THE 


o»    ECONOMY  OF  FOOD; 


»1at  shall  we  eat. 


OR, 


BEIXG    USEFUL 


Wessons  for  Eitlj  :tni  ^00r, 


IXCLUDIXG    THE    STORY    Of 


ONE     D  I  M  E     A     DAY, 


SHOWING 


iiDW     TWAS  earned;    and  now   'twas  spknt  ;    and   now  fivf. 

MOUTJIS    IT    FKD. 


BY    SOLON    E  O  B  I  N  S  ()  N 

or  TUK  NRW  YORK  TSIBir5E  OFKICB. 


Ts^EW  YORK: 

1  OWI-Kl?     AND     WELLS,     PUBLISHKRS 

3  0  8     B  R  O  A  P  W  A  V . 


142  WaHliiiigton-i'I.  I 


I  sr,  r,. 


\      Pmi.APKLPiiu  : 
»  No.  281  Arch-sir. cl. 


ECONOMY  OF  FOOD; 

OB, 

WHAT   SHALL   WE   EAT. 

BEING   USEFUL 

f  essons  in  |litlj  itnb  ^0or, 

INCLUDING   THE    STORT   OF 

ONE    DIME     A    DAY, 


HOW     TWAS    KARNED  ;     AND    HOW     TWAS    SPENT  ;     AND    HOW   FIVE 
MOUTHS    IT    FED. 


BY    SOLON    ROBINSON, 

OP  T!!K  NEW  YOUK  TBIBITKS   OFFICB. 


NEW  YORK: 

FOWLER     AND     WELLS,     PUBLISHERS, 

308    BROADWAY. 

Boston:  (^  1  o  - />  J      Pini-ADKLPuiA : 

142  Washington-st. )  1  o  O  O .  )  No.  281  Arch-slreet. 


INTIHKD,    ACCOHDINO   TO    ACT    OP   CONORKSS,    IN    THE   YZAR   1855,    BT 

SOLON    E0BIN80N, 

IN   THE    clerk's    OFFICE    OP   THE    DISTRICT    COURT   OP   THE   UNITED    STATES    FOa 
THE    BOUTHEHN    DISTSICT    OF    NE^W    TORK. 


DaVIES    and     KoKEKTS,     STEREOTYfEKS, 

201  WiUiam  Street,  New  York. 


^ebicati0iL 


TO     EVERY     MAN,    AVOMAN,    AND     CHILD, 

WHO    LOVES    GOOD    FOOD, 
AND 

AND  -WHO   DESIEE8  TO   LKAEN 

HOW    TO    "MAEE    MUCH   OF   LITTLE," 

Sjlfs   Slfttlc   iJooft 

IS     HUMBLY     DEDICATED     BY     THEIR     FRIEND, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2007  witli  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/economyoffoodorwOOrobiiala 


PUBLISHERS'    ADVERTISEMENT. 


This  is  a  book  for  the  million.  It  is  full  of  instruction,  of  the  most  val- 
uable kind.  It  is  good  for  rich  and  poor;  though  it  was  written  for  the 
latter,  by  one  of  much  experience  in  the  matter  he  writes  about,  and  whose 
articles  upon  the  subject  of  food,  as  published  in  the  New  York  Tribune, 
are  among  the  most  popular  of  the  things  printed  in  that  journal. 

A  portion  of  these  articles  are  embodied  in  this  book,  which  is  printed 
in  this  compact  form  for  preservation,  and  to  give  them  a  still  wider  circu- 
lation, that  they  may  do  still  more  good. 

As  publishers  of  some  experience,  we  earnestly  commend  these  lessons 
in  economy  to  every  family  in  America.  We  are  far  more  anxious  for 
their  wide-spread  circulation  than  we  are  for  any  profits  of  publication ; 
and  where  we  are  assured  that  the  book  is  purchased  for  gratuitous  circu- 
lation, it  will  be  sold  at  cost ;  and  to  all  who  purchase  for  retail,  we  shall 
give  it  for  an  unusual  small  profit,  because  we  want  it  spread  abroad  for 
the  good  it  will  do  the  reader,  more  than  the  publishers  or  author. 

The  suggestion  at  the  end  of  the  first  article,  as  to  how  a  Dime  can  be 
profitably  spent,  is  worthy  of  the  serious  consideration  of  all  dispensers 
of  charity.  Read  it.  Read  the  book,  and  reflect  upon  its  contents,  is  the 
advice  of 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


P  EE  F  A  C  E. 


It  may  seem  idle  to  write  a  preface  to  so  small  a  book.  It  may  be  idle  to 
print  matter  in  a  book  that  has  been  printed  in  a  paper  with  184,000  sub- 
scribers. Papers  don't  keep — books  do.  This  matter  is  worth  keeping.  It 
is  good  to-day — was  good  last  year — will  be  next,  and  the  year  after.  I 
have  been  induced  by  two  or  three  reasons  to  print  it  in  this  form.  In  the 
first  place,  because  Horace  Greeley  said  it  would  do  good.  I  respect  his 
judgment.  In  the  second  place,  I  thought  so  myself.  I  respect  that 
judgment.  In  the  third  place,  in  acting  as  Secretary  of  the  American 
Widows'  Relief  Association  of  this  great  city,  I  have  found  a  great 
many  women  in  want  of  just  such  information  as  may  be  found  in  these 
pages. 

In  fact,  as  you  will  see,  I  found  one  who  could  teach  me.  She  taught  me 
the  value  of  a  Dime — the  value  of  this  little  book.  It  has  a  queer  name, 
you  say.  Perhaps ;  but  it  is  a  good  one.  I  hope  you  will  say  it  is  a  good 
book,  and  buy  it,  and  that  its  lessons  are  worth  A  Dime. 

And  that  brings  me  to  another  reason.  I  write  for  a  living.  If  you  buy 
the  book,  you  will  help  me  live — perhaps  you  may  help  somebody  else  at 
the  same  time.  How  ?  Every  Dime  you  give  for  a  book  will  give  a  cent  to 
me.  Ten  cents  make  one  Dime.  Now  read  what  can  be  done — what  has 
been  done — with  one  Dime.  You  will  find  in  these  pages  the  story  of  a 
woman  who  knew  the  value  of  a  Dime,  and  every  one  of  its  ten  cents. 


THE 


YALFE    OF     A    DIME. 


ONE    DIME. 

{^rom  the  Tribune,  Widay,  December  7, 1856.) 

'Tis  a  little  sum — 'tis  often  given  for  a  drink  or  a  cigar — 
'tis  soon  burned  out  and  wasted.  It  takes  ten  dimes  to 
make  a  dollar,  and  a  dollar  is  a  common  price  for  a  single 
meal.  It  is  soon  eaten — its  effects  are  not  lasting,  except 
when  it  produces  dj'^spepsia,  and  then  it  often  costs  a 
hundred  dimes  to  purchase  medicine  that  does  not  cure 
the  disease. 

To  those  who  never  dine  for  less  than  a  dollar,  how 
unsatisfactory  would  be  a  dinner  for  a  Dime !  Reader, 
have  you  ever  reflected  how  many  entire  families  in  this 
city,  where  food  is  so  dear,  dine  every  day  for  less  than 
one  Dime?  Did  you  ever  think  of  bestowing  one  Dime 
for  charitable  purposes,  and  how  ranch  good  that  would 
do?  What  if  every  subscriber  to  the  WeeTdy  Tribune 
should  give  one  Dime  with  his  subscription,  to  be  applied 
to  the  necessities  of  the  needy  and  deserving  poor  in  this 
city — did  you  ever  consider  Avhat  a  sum  it  would  be? 
Look  at  it — 137,000  subscribers  at  one  Dime  each  is 
$13,700 !  What  if  it  were  applied  to  purchase  bread, 
say  at  five  cents  a  loaf!  It  would  buy  1,740,000  loaves 
of  bread.  What  if  we  should  announce  that  such  a 
quantity  of  bread  was  about  to  be  given  to  the  poor  in 
this  city !  The  whole  land  woidd  rejoice.  How  ranch 
can  be  done  with  one  Dime! 

1* 


WHAT  TO  BUY  WITH  A  DLNIE. 


Let  US  see  w^hat  we  would  do  with  it  if  we  had  but 
one — only  one  Dime  in  the  world — and  yet  with  that 
must  provide  for  a  family  consisting  of  a  mother  and  four 
children  for  a  whole  day.  We  would  not  buy  bakers' 
bread  at  sixpence  a  loaf — very  small  loaves,  too,  never 
weighing  over  a  pound,  however  moist  or  however  adul- 
terated with  corn,  potatoes,  or  buckwheat,  which  are 
harmless — or  with  plaster  of  Paris,  lime,  alum,  sulphate 
of  zinc,  ground  bones,  and  we  do  not  know  how  many 
other  deleterious  substances.  No,  we  would  not  buy 
bakers'  bread  with  our  Dime,  nor  would  we  buy  line 
flour  at  six  or  seven  cents  a  pound,  else  some  of  the  chil- 
dren would  go  hungry.  We  might  buy  corn  meal  and 
make  a  cheap  cake,  or  a  pot  of  mush,  or  a  larger  pot  of 
porridge,  or  we  might  buy  two  pounds  of  hominy,  and 
then  our  Dime  would  feed  the  family  one  full  meal ;  but 
to  this  latter  article  there  is  one  objection.  Where  is  the 
fuel  to  come  from  to  cook  this  mess  ?  for  corn,  more  than 
any  other  grain,  requires  cooking  to  make  it  palatable 
and  wholesome.  Two,  three,  or  even  four  hours  of  slow 
boiling  is  not  too  much.  Our  Dime  will  not  cook  as  well 
as  buy  the  corn  meal  or  hominy.  What  then?  Pota- 
toes !  Let  us  see.  They  require  least  cooking ;  but  they 
cost,  with  all  their  water — and  they  are  more  than  half 
water — two  cents  and  a  half  a  pound  at  retail. 

Then  they  are  not  cheap  food  after  all.  It  will  not  do 
to  spend  our  Dime  for  potatoes. 

What  then  ?  It  is  no  easy  study  to  learn  how  to  pro- 
cure the  most  human  food  for  a  Dime ;  to  ascertain  how 
many  hungry  mouths  may  be  fed — how  many  empty 
stomachs  satisfied,  for  one  Dime.  It  is  a  study  too  much 
neglected.  It  should  be  taught  in  all  Public  Schools. 
Certainly  in  all  Charity,  Industrial,  and  Kagged  Schools, 
where  children  are  fed  as  well  as  taught.  What  better 
wisdom  could  you  teach  them  than  how  to  procure  the 
most  food  for  a  Dime?  It  is  a  little  coin,  but  it  can  be 
made  to  expand.     It  would  be   real    charity— genuine 


rRACTICAL   CHARITY. 


charity — practical  charity — to  teach  such  scholars  econ- 
omy in  food  ;  not  how  to  eat  less,  to  live  upon  less — for, 
Heaven  knows,  some  of  them  live  upon  little  enough 
now — but  to  teach  them  what  to  buy,  in  case  of  emerg- 
ency, with  a  little  coin — only  one  Dime.  We  have  lately 
learned  that  lesson,  and  we  will  teach  it  to  you.  We 
learned  it  of  a  woman — that  is,  the  practical  opera- 
tion of  it — though  she  says  she  learned  it  of  us,  from 
something  she  read  about  economizing  food  in  the  Tri- 
huns. 

"I  had,"  said  she,  "one  day  last  w^eek,  only  one  Dime 
in  the  world,  and  that  was  to  feed  me  and  my  four  chil- 
dren all  day ;  for  I  would  not  ask  for  credit,  and  I  would 
not  borrow,  and  I  never  did  beg.  I  did  live  through  the 
day,  and  I  did  not  go  hungry.  I  fed  myself  and  family 
with  one  Dime." 

"How?" 

"Oh,  that  was  not  all.     I  bought  fuel,  too." 

"What,  with  one  Dime?" 

"Yes,  with  one  Dime!  I  boughf  two  cents'  worth  of 
coke,  because  that  is  cheaper  than  coal,  and  because  I 
could  kindle  it  with  a  piece  of  paper  in  my  little  furnace 
with  two  or  three  little  bits  of  charcoal  that  some  care- 
less boy  had  dropped  in  the  street  just  in  my  path.  With 
three  cents  I  bought  a  scraggy  piece  of  salt  pork,  half  fat 
and  half  lean.  There  might  have  been  half  a  pound  of 
it — the  man  did  not  weigh  it.  I*Tow  half  my  money  was 
gone,  and  the  show  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper  was 
certainly  a  very  poor  one.  With  the  rest  of  my  Dime  I 
bought  four  cents'  worth  of  white  beans.  13y-the-by,  I 
got  these  at  night,  and  soaked  them  in  tepid  water  on  a 
neighbor's  stove  till  morning.  I  liad  one  cent  left.  I 
bought  one  cent's  worth  of  corn  meal,  and  the  grocery 
man  gave  me  a  red-pepper  pod." 

"What  was  that  for?" 

"Wait  a  little — you  shall  know.  Of  all  things,  pep- 
pers and  onions  are  appreciated  by  the  poor  in  winter, 


10  THREE  MEALS  FOR  A  DUIE. 

because  they  help  to  keep  them  warm.  "With  my  meal  I 
made  three  dumplings,  and  these,  with  the  pork  and  the 
pepper-pod,  I  put  into  the  pot  with  the  beans  and  plenty 
of  water  (tor  the  pork  was  salt),  and  boiled  the  whole  two 
hours;  and  then  we  had  breakfast,  for  it  was  time  for  the 
children  to  go  to  school.  We  ate  one  of  the  dumplings, 
and  each  had  a  plate  of  the  soup  for  breakfast,  and  a  very 
good  breakfast  it  was. 

"  I  kept  the  pot  boiling  as  long  as  my  coke  lasted,  and 
at  dinner  we  ate  half  the  meat,  half  the  soup,  and  one  of 
the  dumplings.  AVe  had  the  same  allowance  for  supper; 
and  the  children  were  better  satisfied  than  I  have  some- 
times seen  them  when  our  food  has  cost  five  times  as 
much.  The  next  da}'  we  had  another  Dime — it  was  all  I 
could  earn  for  all  I  could  get  to  do — two  pairs  of  men's 
drawers  each  day,  at  five  cents  a  pair — and  on  that  we 
lived — lived  well.  We  had  a  change,  too,  for  instead  of 
the  corn  meal  and  beans  I  got  four  cents'  worth  of  oat- 
meal and  one  cent's  worth  of  potatoes — small  potatoes, 
because  I  could  get  more  of  them.  I  washed  them 
clean,  so  as  not  to  waste  any  thing  by  paring,  and  cut 
them  up  and  boiled  them  all  to  pieces  with  the  meat  and 
meal." 

"  Wiiich  went  furthest?" 

"I  can't  say.  We  ate  it  all  each  day,  and  didn't  feel 
the  want  of  more,  though  the  children  said :  '  Ma,  don't 
you  wish  we  had  a  piece  of  bread-and-butter,  to  finish  off 
with?'  It  would  have  been  good,  to  be  sure;  but,  bless 
me !  what  would  a  Dime's  worth  of  bread-and-butter  be 
for  my  family?     But  I  had  another  change  next  day." 

"What,  for  another  Dime?" 

"Yes;  that  was  all  we  had,  day  after  day.  We  had 
to  live  on  it.  It  was  very  hard,  to  be  sure;  but  it  has 
taught  me  something." 

"What  is  that?" 

"That  poor  folks  could  live  a  great  deal  cheaper  and 
better  than  they  do,  if  they  only  knew  how  to  economize 


A  LESSON  WORTH  A  DIME.  11 


their  food.  You  have  told  them  how,  but  they  are  slow 
to  learn,  or  loth  to  change  from  foolish  old  practices." 

"  What  was  your  next  change  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,  I  was  about  to  tell  you  that.  Well,  I  went 
to  the  butcher's  the  night  before,  and  bought  five  cents' 
worth  of  little  scrap  pieces  of  lean  beef,  and  I  declare  I 
think  I  got  as  much  as  a  pound,  and  this  I  cut  up  into 
bits,  and  soaked  over  night — an  all-important  process  for 
soup  or  a  stew — cooking  it  in  the  same  water.  Then  I 
bought  two  cents'  worth  of  potatoes  and  one  cent's  worth 
of  meal — that  made  the  eight  cents;  two  had.  to  go  for 
fuel  every  day,  and  the  paper  I  got  my  purchases  in 
served  for  kindling,  Tho  meal  I  wet  up  into  stifl'  dough, 
and  worked  out  into  little  round  balls,  about  as  big  as 
grapes,  aod  the  potatoes  I  cut  up  into  slices,  and  all  to- 
gether made  a  stew,  or  chowder,  seasoned  with  a  small 
onion  and  part  of  a  pepper-pod  that  I  got  with  the  pota- 
toes. It  was  very  good,  but  it  did  not  go  quite  so  far  as 
the  soup  either  day,  or  else  the  fresh  meat  tasted  so  good 
that  we  wanted  to  eat  more.  But  I  can  tell  you,  small 
as  it  may  seeia  to  you,  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  eat- 
ing in  one  Dime." 

So  there  is — what  a  pity  everybody  don't  know  it ! 
What  a,  world  of  good  might  be  done  with  a  Dime ! 

Reader,  have  you  got  a  Dime — that  is,  to  spare — only 
one  Dime?  Give  it  to  that  poor  widow.  Give  it?  No ; 
you  owe  it.  She  has  given  you  twice  its  value,  whether 
you  are  one  that  will  feast  to-day  on  a  dollar,  or  be 
stinted  witli  a  Dime.  She  has  taught  you — what  you 
never  knew  before — the  value  of  one  Dime. 

What  a  pity  so  many  should  be  thrown  away!  What 
a  pity  we  eould  not  teach  this  lesson  of  economy  in  food 
to  the  thousands  who  will  suffer  before  spring  for  the 
dimes  wasted,  through  ignorance,  when  dimes  were  plenty ! 
Knowing  how  to  use  a  Dime  might  often  save  a  family 
from  suffering — from  beggary— from  degradation.  'Tis 
a  small  coin — it  will  buy  five  copies  of  this  paper.     What 


12  PROFITING  BY  THE  LESSON. 


if  you  invest  it  here,  and  give  this  article  to  those  who 
would  profit  by  learning  how  they  can  live,  and  satisfy 
the  hunger  of  live  persons  all  day — for  one  Dime. 

Yes,  it  is  a  small  coin,  but  it  will  buy  this  book.  What 
if  you  invest  it,  and  give  the  book  to  some  one  who  will 
profit  by  its  lessons.  Some  have  already.  Here  is  one. 
He  says : 

The  article  on  the  Dime,  in  yesterday's  paper,  is  worth  much  more  than 
one  Dime  to  me ;  and  therefore  I  heartily  send  you  the  one  Dime  therein 
called  for;  not  as  for  a  weekly,  but  a  daily  subscriber.  Do  ask  all  your 
daily  subscribers  to  do  the  same.  I  would  send  more,  but,  sir,  I  am  poor  ; 
not  imaginarily  so,  but  in  reality,  as  far  as  cents  are  concerned  ;  and  yet, 
sir,  I  must  pay  two  cents  every  day  for  your  paper,  for  it  aaves  me  more 
than  it  costs  per  day,  of  cash  in  my  family  expenses ;  and  besides,  it  is 
making  me  rich  in  knowledge  into  the  bargain.  This  I  consider  clear  gain. 
Give  this  Dime  to  the  family  mentioned  yesterday,  and  may  God  incline  the 
hearts  of  all  who  read  it  to  send  at  least  Ojve  Dime. 

December  8, 1865. 

So  hope  we  all,  but  that  it  will  be  of  the  dimes  saved ; 
80  that  all  who  give  will  feel  just  as  the  writer  of  the 
next  letter  does ;  that  they  owe  it,  and  it  is  only  paying 
a  debt.     Hear  what  he  says : 

I  feel  that  I  owe  that  poor  widow  tea  dimes  for  what  she  has  taught 
me  about  economy  in  living.  As  far  as  the  matter  of  providing  daily  food 
for  herself  and  family  is  concerned,  she  is  probably  independent ;  but  she 
wants  to  properly  clothe  and  educate  those  fear  dear  little  ones.  Please 
hand  her  the  inclosed.  I  have  never  yet  been  driven  to  the  alternative  of 
limiting  myself  and  family  to  one  solitary  Dime  a  day ;  but  do  not  know 
how  soon  such  may  be  the  case,  when  our  legislators  are  doing  so  much  to 
strangle  the  energies  of  our  industrial  population. 

From  a  lover  of  the  Tribune,  and  its  purposes  to  do  good  to  the  poor. 

Xow  this  is  all  pleasant  evidence  that  this  article  upon 
economy  in  food  is  doing  its  mission. 

But  I  must  toll  the  writer  that  I  did  not  do  with  hia 
dollar  as  he  bid  me.  I  did  not  give  it  to  that  poor  woman. 
Before  I  could  see  her,  another  came — one  I  knew — one 
who  did  live  neat  and  respectable,  and  respected  by  all 
who  knew  her,  as  wife  or  widow  of  an  honest,  hard-work- 
ing city  carpenter;  who  dying,  as  we  all  must,  left  her, 
at  thirty-eight  years  old,  with  five  children  under  fifteen. 


i'llE  TWO  DIME  LOAVES.  13 


What  a  task — a  living  death  I  Dying  that  they  might 
live.  With  feeble  health — a  toil-worn  and  torn  consti- 
tution— her  children  sickly — sick  for  want  of  accus- 
tomed food  and  comforts  that  came  with  the  father's 
daily  wages,  and  were  daily  spent,  so  that  when  death 
came,  and  custom — fashion,  with  its  inexorable  law — 
demanded  a  costly  coffin  and  an  expensive  "last  home" 
in  consecrated  ground  for  the  dead,  there  was  no  living 
left  for  the  living — no  home  and  food  and  fire  for  a  family 
of  whom  it  had  been  said,  "  How  well  they  live  !"  Yes, 
they  lived  well,  as  the  word  goes — they  did  not  live  by 
the  laws  of  economy.  It  was  a  lesson  never  taught  in 
their  school.  It  was  a  need  they  had  never  needed. 
They  need  it  now.  Now,  when  a  Dime  is  more  than  a 
dollar  then.  Now,  when  for  one  whole  week,  for  that 
feeble,  tender-reared  American  woman  —  and  for  four 
hungry  children,  who  never,  till  their  father's  death, 
knew  the  want  of  a  full  meal;  they  have  known  it  often 
since — for  a  whole  week,  the  only  food  that  entered  the 
widow's  desolate  home,  was  two  dimes'  worth  of  dear 
baker's  bread. 

The  onlj'-  fire  was  made  of  two  pecks  of  coal.  For  food 
and  fuel  for  five  persons,  not  five,  but  seven  days,  three 
dimes  and  a  half  was  all  they  had,  and  that  was  not  eco- 
nomically expended,  as  was  the  Dime  of  which  you  read, 
because  the  woman  did  not  understand  the  art ;  and  it 
was  no  time  to  learn  it,  and  her  children  starving  the 
while.  Just  as  well  might  you  tell  tlie  drowning  man  to 
hold  on,  and  you  would  read  him  a  dissertation  upon  the 
art  of  swimming.  Just  as  well  might  you  tell  the  hun- 
gry dog  that  the  bone  he  stole,  to  him  was  useless,  be- 
cause he  knew  not  the  art  of  making  soup.  Three  dimes 
and  a  half  a  week  for  a  whole  famii}' !  That  is  not  the 
art  of  economy — it  is  the  art  of  starving  to  death  witliout 
dying.  It  might  sustain  a  family  in  the  woods  of  Ken- 
tucky, where  fuel  is  worthless,  and  corn  but  a  Dime  a 
bushel,  as  I  have  often  seen  it  sold.     It  is  dearer  now — 


14  THE  COST  OF   DRINK. 


very  much  dearer  here — and  no  teaching  of  economy  can 
tell  a  woman  how  to  live  upon  so  little. 

It  was  to  this  woman  that  I  gave  the  man's  ten  dimes. 
I  gave  her,  too,  what  another  "friend  of  the  poor"  had 
sent  me — some  clothes  and  shoes  for  her  children ;  for  of 
the  latter  they  had  none,  and  of  the  former,  only  the 
garb  that  makes  them  feel  they  are  but  beggars.  Yet 
they  are  not — they  are  true-born  American  children. 
Perhaps,  children  of  parents  that  did  not  practice  econ- 
omy, and  did  not  lay  up  a  store  out  of  dimes  wasted. 
Yet  these  should  not  be  left  to  waste.  It  is  poor  econo- 
my to  waste  good  flesh  and  blood — hands,  heads,  hearts, 
souls  of  our  fellow-creatures. 

Yet  without  the  economy  of  saving  such  from  waste, 
to  worse  than  waste  they  must  go. 

Economy  in  food  would  save  all  from  want. 

Economy  in  clothes  would  clothe  all  the  destitute. 

Economy  in  drink  would  make  all  rich,  for  that  is  all 
waste. 

Tliere  are  six  thousand  drinking  places  in  New  York 
city.  At  many  of  these,  every  drink  is  a  Dime.  One 
hundred  dimes  a  day  for  the  average  sales  is  within  the 
limits  of  truth.     Sixty  thousand  dollars  ! 

The  amount  drank  at  private  tables  is  as  much  more. 
The  loss  of  time  and  property,  counting  all  the  lives  that 
rum  has  slain,  is  sixty  thousand  more,  among  our  six 
hundred  thousand  people,  every  day. 

Work  out  the  sum ;  see  how  much  it  is  per  week — per 
month — per  year — and  then  tell  me  if  economy  in  drink 
would  not  make  all  rich,  or,  at  least,  leave  none  in  want 
of  bread.     It  would  make  a  fund  to  feed  the  poor. 

A  Dime  for  a  cigar !     What  of  it? 

Simply  that  it  is  not  economy.  Whether  a  dime  or  a 
mill,  it  is,  in  a  year,  ten  millions  of  dimes  wasted. 

Go  count  the  stores  on  Broadway  that  sell  cigars  only, 
and  see  how  many  that  pay  a  thousand  dollars — ten  thou- 
sand dimes  a  year  for  rent  alone ! 


THE  WASTE  OF  SMOKING.  15 

Then  count  in  one  walk  from  the  Battery  to  Union 
Square,  how  many  men — men! — boys — bipeds — things 
with  hair  and  legs,  that  are  burning  out  life  and  cigars 
at  the  same  time,  and  you  will  readily  believe  that  there 
is  in  this  city  one  hundred  thousand  men — if  men  they 
be — who  burn  up  a  Dime  a  day  in  tobacco. 

How  much  is  that  a  year  ?  Three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  thousand  dimes — thirty-six  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars !  How  many  poor  women  and  children  that  would 
feed,  and  clothe,  and  send  to  school,  to  church,  and  into 
the  ways  of  life,  and  hope,  and  happiness,  to  be  men  and 
women,  and  not  pining  slaves  of  want,  living  upon  a 
Dime  a  day ! 

How  many  lessons  of  economy  would  all  these  wasted 
dimes  teach  !  They  teach  us  one  great  lesson  now.  It  is 
this  :  it  is  not  economy  to  smoke.  And  perchance  some 
of  those  who  will  puff  the  fetid  odor  of  their  bad  breath 
and  tobacco  in  your  face  while  you  read  of  this  great 
waste  of  dimes,  will  laugh  at  your  study  and  practice  of 
economy  in  living,  and  die  and  leave  their  families  to 
live,  as  best  they  may,  upon  a  Dime  a  day. 

So  here  let  us  give  them  another  lesson  in  economy — 
the  economy  of  making  afire — not  at  the  end  of  a  cigar, 
for  in  that  there  is  no  economy,  however  made ;  yet  in 
that  economy  might  be  practiced — but  in  making  a  fire  in 
the  family  stove,  range,  or  grate,  where  anthracite  coal 
is  nsed. 

Coal  will  not  ignite  without  being  first  heated  to  a  red 
heat  with  wood  Wood  is  costly.  A  load — a  city  load 
— of  pine  wood  costs  about  two  and  three-fourth  dollars. 
It  is  called  a  third  of  a  cord.  It  is  hardly  an  honest 
fourth.  It  is  two  cents  a  pound.  It  is  usually  cut  by 
the  sawyer  three  times.  It  should  be  cut  six.  It  never 
should  be  cut  by  hand.  That  is  not  economy.  It  is  cut 
six  times  by  machine  for'the  same  price  of  three  by  hand, 
and  it  is  split  finer  and  better,  without  additional  cost, 
by  an  axe  driven,  like  the  saw,  by  steam. 


16  ECONOMY  IN  MAKING   A  FIRE. 

It  i8  no  longer  economy  to  buy  wood  by  the  load,  and 
have  it  cut  and  split  upon  the  pavement  before  your  door, 
for  two  reasons  :  it  costs  more,  and  burns  more.  It  never 
will  be  split  line  enough.  The  finer  the  better,  if  part  of 
it  be  mere  splinters.  Then  a  small  piece  of  paper  and  a 
match  will  serve  to  kindle.  Put  the  wood  all  in  a  close 
bunch  in  the  middle  of  the  grate,  with  a  small  quantity  of 
small  pieces  of  coal  over  it.  When  these  are  heated,  add 
more,  a  little  at  a  time,  until  all  is  hot,  and  you  will  have 
a  good  fire.  Economy  in  kindling  a  fire  will  save  one 
half  the  cost  of  wood.  Enough  may  be  saved  in  every 
family  in  kindling  wood  alone  to  give  a  peck  of  coal 
to  some  need}'-  one  every  day. 

'Tis  a  small  bunch  of  wood  that  costs  a  Dime.  I  have 
sometimes  seen  it  nsed  to  kindle  one  fire  ;  and  often  seen 
the  grate  filled  heaping  full  of  coal  that  had  to  be  all 
removed  after  the  paper  and  wood  had  burned  out,  be- 
cause the  builder  had  never  studied  the  art  and  economy 
of  kindling  a  fire. 

•  Never,  whether  rich  or  poor,  suffer  your  cinders  or 
unburned  bits  of  coal  to  be  wasted  in  the  ash  barrel. 
Measure  for  measure,  they  are  worth  more  than  coal. 
Save  them,  soak  them,  try  them.  AVater  renovates  the 
coke,  and  wet  cinders,  upon  a  hot  coal  fire,  will  make  it 
liotter,  and  keep  it  so  longer  than  fresh  coal. 

Saving  cinders  is  not  meanness,  it  is  economy. 

To  learn  how  to  kindle  a  fire,  is  learning  a  useful  les- 
son for  life.  It  is  a  useful  study  of  economy.  Remem- 
ber its  teachings,  for  the  time  may  come  when  it  will  be 
worth  to  you  more  than  a  Dime. 

Let  me  repeat,  while  you  listen:  in  short,  have  your 
kindling  wood  short,  and  all  in  a  close  pile  over  your 
crumpled  paper.  If  it  is  set  up  like  a  stack,  all  the  bet- 
ter to  ignite.  Put  on  small  coal  in  small  quantities  till 
your  fire  burns  bright;  then  add  wet  cinders,  and  then 
you  will  save  a  Dime  a  day. 

No   young   gent  or  lady  should    ever  be   allowed    a 


ECONOMY  IN  FOOD— WHAT  SHALL    WE  EAT?  17 

servant  to  kindle  a  fire  in  their  own  room.  It  is  bad  econ- 
omy. General  Washington  always  kindled  his  own  tire. 
Are  you  better  than  him  ?  Besides  the  economy  and  ad- 
vantage of  learning  the  art  of  making  a  fire  in  your 
room,  there  is  in  the  practice  a  positive  economy  of 
health.  t\'JUil6 

Now  I  will  give  you  another  article  from  the  Tribune, 
entitled — 


ECONOIY  IN  POOD-WHAT  SHALL  WE  EAT? 

(PiMiahM  Konember  14, 1855.) 

With  the  present  prices  of  rent,  fuel,  meat,  bread,  flour, 
meal,  sugar,  potatoes,  and  other  staple  articles  of  supply 
for  a  family  in  New  York,  it  only  requires  but  a  slight 
insight  into  the  condition  of  all  the  laboring  class  to  see 
that  the  cry  frequently  raised  for  an  increase  of  wages  is 
only  the  disguised  cry  of  the  hungry  for  food.  Daily 
wages  are  daily  consumed  ;  and  often  the  only  means  of 
support  for  a  week  is  the  weekly  credit. of  the  butcher, 
baker,  and  grocer.  This  is  never  given  except  at  an  in- 
creased profit,  and  a  little  too  often  at  a  profit  obtained 
by  palpable  swindling  in  light  weights  and  measures,  of 
which  the  victims  dare  not  complain,  for  fear  of  losing 
the  "  accommodation,"  as  the  credit  is  called.  "While 
work  lasts  the  laborer  can  live ;  when  it  fails,  he  has 
nothing  in  store  to  fall  back  upon.  Whoever,  then,  will 
make  known  to  this  class  how  to  economize  in  their  food, 
so  as  to  increase  the  supply  without  an  increase  of  ex- 
penditure, will  be  doing  them  a  greater  benefit  than  he 
would  in  a  life-long  harangue  on  politics,  either  Hard 
Shell,  Soft  Shell,  or  no  shell. 

We  need  not  repeat  here  how  hard  it  is  for  those  de- 
pendent upon  daily  employment  to  furnish  their  families 
with  suitable  food,  at  a  time  when,  from  sickness  or  other 
cause,  they  are  not  in  receipt  of  wages. 


18  ECONOMY  IN  FOOD-WHAT   SHALL  WE  EAT? 


Too  often,  at  such  times,  there  is  deep  suffering ;  and 
last  Winter  there  was  actual  starvation. 

Will  it  be  any  better  this  Winter,  now  so  rapidly  ap- 
proaching that  it  sends  a  shudder  through  many  a  fam- 
ily circle  who  remember  what  scenes  tliey  passed  through 
last  January,  February,  and  March? 

There  has  been,  there  is  now,  there  will  be  much  suf- 
fering for  food  in  this  city,  notwithstanding  our  receipts 
of  tens  of  thousands  weekly  of  butchers'  animals,  and 
our  millions  of  bushels  of  corn,  and  wheat,  and  rye,  and 
oats,  and  barley,  and  buckwheat,  and  beans,  and  peas, 
and  rice,  for  breadstuffs,  and  daily  ship-loads  of  potatoes 
of  both  kinds,  and  untold  piles  of  other  edible  roots  and 
vegetables,  and.  great  storehouses  full  of  flour,  butter, 
cheese,  fish,  fruit,  eggs,  poultry,  and  salted  meats,  and  a 
thousand  unnamed  articles  of  food  ;  yet  the  mass  are  not 
full  fed,  and  why?  Because  they  do  not  know  how  to 
eat.  Not  that  they  lack  the  animal  function  of  consum- 
ing ;  but  in  providing,  both  in  the  purchase  of  kind  and 
quality,  and  in  the  preparation  there  is  a  lamentable  want 
of  judgment,  and  utter  want  of  economy.  The  want  of 
food  among  the  poor  is  a  great  evil.  It  breeds  discon- 
tent, dissipation,  crime  and  ruin  to  any  civilized  society. 

There  is  a  remedy. 

It  would  be  greater  charity  to  teach  that  remedy  than 
to  establish  soup-houses. 

The  first  step  would  be  to  change  our  fashion  of  food ; 
to  abandon  such  articles  as  are  excessively  dear  in  the 
raw  state,  for  others  equally  good  and  more  nutritious, 
and  to  adopt  a  difi'erent  and  more  rational  plan  of  cook- 
ing. This  would  not  only  promote  economy,  but  health ; 
both  of  which  would  add  vastly  to  our  stock  of  enjoyment. 

Without  exception,  both  rich  and  poor  in  America  eat 
extravagantly  of  animal  food,  cooked  in  the  most  extrav- 
agant and  wasteful  manner ;  by  frying,  baking,  I'oasting, 
or  boiling,  and  throwing  away  half  of  the  nutritious  mat- 
ter in  burnt  gravy,  or  gelatine  dissolved  in  the  pot  liquor. 


ECONOMY  IN  FOOD-WHAT  SHALL  WE  EAT?  J9 

Again,  we  consume  vast  quantities  of  the  meanest  and 
most  innutritions  vegetables,  costly  at  first,  and  cooked 
in  the  most  foolishly  wasteful  manner.  The  fashion  of 
extravagance  in  living  is  set  by  the  rich,  and  they  are 
aped  in  their  folly  by  the  poor.  The  consequence  is,  that 
there  are  want  and  suffering  whenever  work  and  wages  fail. 

There  is  a  remedy.  The  only  question  is,  how  it  shall 
be  applied?  Better  than  charity  wonld  be  organizations, 
not  to  provide  food  for  the  poor,  but  to  teach  them  what 
to  buy,  and  how  to  use  it ;  how  to  economize  their  money. 

The  very  first  step  toward  this  blessed  state  of  things 
should  be  taken  by  our  city  government,  if  indeed  we 
have  such  a  thing  left  to  us,  by  removing  all  restrictions 
upon  the  producer,  by  which  he  is  kept  away  from  the 
consumer.  We  pay  now  an  average  of  thirty-three  per 
cent,  advance  upon  every  thing  that  is  eaten  in  New 
York,  over  and  above  what  we  should  pay  if  these  re- 
strictions were  removed. 

Let  every  one  who  has  bought  a  head  of  cabbage  this 
fall,  think  what  he  paid.  Six,  ten,  or  twelve  cents  each, 
while  the  producer  has  not  received  an  average  of  two 
cents  each.  The  turnip  eaters  are  paying  every  day  at 
the  rate  of  one  to  two  dollars  a  bushel.  The  producer  is 
receiving  an  average  of  less  than  twenty  cents.  We  pay 
for  many  things  in  the  same  proportion,  owing  to  our  ab- 
surd and  wicked  market  regulations. 

The  producer  is  kept  away  from  the  consumer.  He  is 
not  permitted  to  come  into  the  city  and  enjoy  the  advan- 
tages of  "free  trade"  in  his  own  produce. 

Why?  Tlie  city  fathers  say  that  we  have  no  room — 
nowhere  for  him  to  stand  his  wagon,  where  the  poor  man 
or  the  poor  woman  may  come  with  her  market  basket 
upon  her  arm,  and  get  it  filled  at  first  prices. 

Under  the  present  market  regulations,  all  the  country 
wagons  are  huddled  into  the  cramped  space  around 
Washington  Market,  where  none  but  stout  men,  or  a 
class  of  market  bullies  can  get  to  them ;  for,  in  addition 


20  ECONOMY  IN  BUYING  MEAT. 

to  the  crowding,  tlie  wagons  are  driven  out  at  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  city  lathers  say  they  can 
not  amend  this  error,  because  they  have  nowhere  else  to 
put  the  wagons. 

We  can  help  them.  We  will  point  out  a  place,  and 
let  the  recommendation  be  adopted,  and  it  will  cheapen 
family  marketing  in  this  city  to  a  very  large  class  of  con- 
sumers, full  twenty-five  per  cent.  Pass  an  ordinance  at 
once,  making  Canal  Street,  through  all  the  new  widened 
part,  from  Centre  Street  to  the  East  River,  a  market-place 
for  country  wagons ;  and  there  let  them  stand  and  sell 
their  stuff  from  sunrise  till  ten  o'clock,  at  retail,  with  no 
privilege,  until  after  that  hour,  of  selling  at  wliolesale, 
or  leaving  the  stand,  unless  their  load  is  all  sold  out. 

This  is  a  measure  of  relief  to  the  poor,  easily  brought 
about ;  one  that  would  produce  real  economy  in  food. 

Our  city  makes  paupers,  first  by  thwarting  the  laborer 
in  his  facilities  to  get  cheap  food,  and  then  by  the  soiip- 
house  system  of  feeding  tliose  who  are  unable,  through 
misfortune,  to  obtain  a  supply. 

But  this  is  foreign  to  our  main  subject — economy  in 
kind  and  quality  of  food  for  the  industrious  poor. 

They  do  not  study  economy  in  their  purchases.  All 
kinds  of  fresh  meat  cost  from  ten  to  twenty  cents  a  pound, 
and  very  few  Americans  are  willing  to  take  low  price 
meats ;  and  generally  those  who  can  least  afford  it,  call 
for  a  rib  roast,  or  a  loin  steak  of  beef,  or  a  leg  of  lamb  or 
mutton,  or  a  loin  of  veal  or  pork  ;  and  rarely  for  the  most 
economical  pieces.  A  rib  roast  of  six  pounds  for  a  dol- 
lar, in  a  poor  man's  family,  is  slightly  extravagant ;  the 
cooking  more  so.  The  Jews'  religion  in  eating  meat  is 
founded  on  true  economy.  They  eat  only  the  fore  quar- 
ters, and  sell  the  more  expensive,  and  less  valuable  hind 
quarters,  to  the  Gentiles.  The  fore  quarter  will  not  cut 
steaks  and  roasts  equal  to  the  hind  quarter,  but  it  is  more 
economical  for  soups,  stews,  pot-pies,  or  cooking  in  any 
form  with  vegetables   and  gravy.     The  man  or  woman 


THE  PRICES  OP  PROVISIONS.  21 

with  scanty  means,  to  fill  the  market  basket,  not  only 
bin^s  dear  meats,  but  crude,  innutritions  vegetables,  such 
as  cabbage,  turnips,  and  potatoes ;  for,  notwithstanding 
so  many  persons  think  potatoes  a  necessary  article  of 
food,  they  are  not  an  economical  one ;  and  all  the  cruder 
substances  of  vegetable  food,  though  necessary  and 
healthful,  should  not  be  sought  after  because  cheap,  to 
save  money. 

The  most  economical  mode  of  preparing  food  is  a  due 
mixture  of  meat  and  vegetable  substance  in  the  form  of 
soups ;  but  no  man  should  live  upon  soup  alone,  any 
more  than  he  should  upon  meat  or  line  flour  bread. 
Health,  as  well  as  appetite,  requires  variety.  It  happens, 
now,  that  breadstnffs,  notwithstanding  the  high  price  of 
bread  and  flour,  are  the  cheapest  of  all  human  food  ;  and 
it  also  happens  that  by  our  slavery  of  fashion  we  do  not 
use  the  cheapest  kinds  of  this  kind  of  cheap  food. 

The  following  are  the  retail  prices  of  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal articles  of  food  in  New  York,  Oct.,  1855  : 

Flour  per  bbl $12  00  per  lb.,  6|c. 

Sago —  "  "  8to9c. 

Farina —  "  "  12  to  15c. 

Bread —  "  "  6^0. 

Corn  meal  per  cwt 2  75  to  $3  00  "  "  3Jc. 

Buckwheat  meal,  per  cwt 3  00  to  $3  50  "  "  3^  to  4c. 

Barley  meal  per  cwt 3  00  "  "  3  i  to  4c. 

Oatmeal  per  cwt 4  00  to  $4  50  "  "  StoG^c. 

Rye  flour  per  bbl 7  00  "  "  4  to  4ic. 

Hominy  per  cwt 4  00  "  "  5c. 

Cracked  wheat  per  cwt 5  50  "  "  6c. 

Split  peas  per  bushel 2  25  "  "  4ic. 

Whole  peas  per  bushel 2  50  "  "  6c. 

White  beans  per  bushel 2  00  "  "  4i  to5c. 

Dried  sweet  com  per  bushel 4  50  "  "  10  to  12^ 

Rice  per  cwt 5  00  "  "  6to7o 

Potatoes  per  bbl.,  $1  50  to  $1  75 ;  per  bushel,  75  cents ;  per  lb,,  1^0. 

Macaroni  and  vermicelli,  11  to  12  cents  per  lb. 

Sugar,  8  to  1 1  cents  per  lb. 

Butter,  per  lb.,  averages  28  cents.     Cheese,  12  to  14  cents 

Apples,  per  bbl.,  $2  to  $3  50  ;  per  bushel,  $1  average 


22  ANALYSIS  OF   FOOD. 

All  kinds  of  meat,  salt  and  fresh,  and  all  sorts  of  fish,  will  average  12i 
cents  a  pound  to  the  buyer  of  small  quantities. 

Eggs  are  worth  25  cents  per  dozen,  which  is  about  18  cents  per  lb.  A 
dozen  eggs,  average  size,  will  weigh  one  pound  six  ounces. 

Turnips,  per  bushel,  25  cents;  carrots,  50  cents;  beets,  50  cents  ;  onions, 
75  cents  ;  cabbage,  about  2  cents  a  pound. 

Dried  fruits,  per  lb. — Apples,  7  to  8  cents ;  pears,  15  to  20  cents  ;  plums, 
8  to  14  cents ;  cherries,  15  to  20  cents ;  peaches,  15  to  18  cents ;  raisins,  8 
to  12i  cents. 

The  following  is  tlie  proportion  of  nutritious  matter  and 
water  in  each  of  the  following  substances  : 

Lbs.        Substances.  Lbs.  nut.  mat.  Lbs.  water. 

100  Wheatflour 90 10 

100  Cornmeal 91   9 

100  Rice 86  14 

100  Barley  meal 88  12 

100  Ryeflour 79  21 

100  Oatmeal 75 25 

100  Potatoes 22^. 77i 

100  White  beans 95  5 

100  Carrots 10  90 

100  Turnips 4i 95i 

100  Cabbage 7k 92J 

100  Beets 15   „ 85 

100  Strawberries 10 90 

100  Pears 16  84 

100  Apples 16   84 

100  Cherries 25   75 

100  Plums 29   71 

100  Apricots 26   74 

100  Peaches 20  80 

100  Grapes 27   73 

100  Melons 3   97 

100  Cucumbers 2^ 97i 

Meats,  generally,  are  about  three  fourths  water,  and 
milk,  as  it  comes  from  the  cow,  over  ninety  per  cent. 
How  is  it  as  it  comes  from  the  milkmen  ? 

It  is  true  that  this  chemical  analysis  does  not  give  us 
the  exact  comparative  value  of  food,  but  with  that,  and 
the  prices  of  the  various  articles,  it  can  not  be  a  hard 
matter  to  determine  what  is  the  cheapest  or  most  eco- 
nomical kind  of  food  for  us  to  use. 

Perhaps  of  all  the  articles  named,  taking  into  account 


ECONOMICAL  BREADSTUFFS.  23 


the  price  and  nutritious  q^ualities,  oatmeal  will  give  the 
greatest  amount  of  nutriment  for  the  least  money.  But 
where  will  you  find  it  in  use  ?  Not  one  family  in  a  thou- 
sand ever  saw  the  article ;  not  one  in  a  hundred  ever 
heard  of  it,  and  many  who  have  heard  of  it  have  a  vague 
impression  that  none  but  starving  Scotch  or  Irish  ever 
used  it ;  and,  in  short,  that  oats,  in  America,  are  only  fit 
food  for  pigs  and  horses. 

It  is  a  great  mistake.  Oatmeal  is  excellent  in  por- 
ridge, and  all  sorts  of  cooking  of  that  sort,  and  oatmeal 
cakes  are  sweet,  nutritious,  and  an  antidote  for  dyspep- 
sia. Just  now,  we  believe  oats  are  the  cheapest  of  any 
grain  in  market,  and  it  is  a  settled  fact  that  oats  give  the 
greatest  amount  of  power  of  any  grain  consumed  by  man 
or  beast. 

This  cheap  food  only  needs  to  be  fashionable,  to  be 
extremely  popular  among  all  laborers,  all  of  whom,  to 
say  nothing  of  other  classes,  eat  too  much  fine  flour  bread. 

Cracked  wheat  and  loaf  bread  cost  the  same  price,  or 
perhaps  a  less  price  for  the  wheat  by  the  pound.  A 
pound  of  the  wheat,  properly  cooked,  is  worth  more  than 
four  loaves  of  bread. 

Hominy,  samp,  hulled  corn,  we  have  so  often  recom- 
mended and  urged  upon  the  attention  of  all,  both  rich 
and  poor,  as  cheap,  wholesome,  nutritious  food,  that  we 
have  induced  many  to  try  it,  who  would  not  give  it  up 
now  under  any  consideration.  We  reiterate  all  that  we 
have  ever  said  in  its  favor.  Thirty  years'  experience  in 
its  use  only  serves  to  confirm  us  in  the  opinion  that  it  is 
such  excellent  and  economical  food,  that  too  much  can 
not  be  said  in  its  favor.  The  only  thing  necessar}^  in  its 
cooking,  is  to  cook  it  enough — it  can  not  be  cooked  too 
much. 

Every  family  should  eat  beans  and  peas,  because  of 
all  articles  they  afford  the  most  nutriment  for  the  least 
money. 

One  pound  of  cheap  meat,  say  at  ten  cents,  and  one 

2 


34  OLD-FASHIONED  DISHES. 


pound  of  split  peas,  say  five  cents,  Avill  give  a  fuller  din- 
ner to  a  family  than  a  dollar  expended  for  beefsteak  and 
white  bread.  This  is  a  kind  of  economy  that  should  be 
known,  and  rigidly  practiced. 

One  bushel  of  white  beans  will  feed  more  laboring  men 
than  eight  bushels  of  potatoes.  The  beans  will  cost  two 
dollars,  the  potatoes  six. 

A  single  quart  of  beans  costs  nine  cents;  a  half-pound 
of  salt  pork,  six  cents ;  a  pound  of  hominy,  five  cents ; 
and  that  will  give  a  meal  to  a  larger  family  than  a  dol- 
lar's worth  of  roast  beef,  white  bread,  potatoes,  and  other 
vegetables. 

We  would  not  confine  the  laborer  or  the  poorest  fam- 
ily to  this  cheap  food ;  but  we  do  insist  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  substitute  such  food,  occasionally,  in  place  of  that 
which  is  more  expensive,  and  thus,  by  saving,  lay  up  a 
few  dollars  in  the  savings  bank  to  save  themselves  from 
the  mere  life-saving  contrivance,  the  soup-house. 

We  hope  never  to  see  another  of  these  pauper-making 
establishments  in  operation  again  in  this  city.  Let  men 
think  twice  before  they  open  another  one. 

But  let  every  one  think  of  the  economy  of  making  a 
soup-house  at  home.  We  spoke  of  pea-soup.  Is  there 
any  living  witness  of  that  good  old  Yankee  dish  of  cheap 
food,  called  bean  porridge?  Let  it  be  revived  in  every 
family — among  the  rich  as  a  luxury,  and  among  the  poor 
as  an  article  of  economy. 

There  is  another  Yankee  dish  besides  bean  soup  and 
baked  beans  that  we  should  like  to  see  revived,  and  that 
is  the  baked  Lidian-meal  pudding  ;  and  this  brings  us  to 
Indian  bread,  a  mixture  of  two  thirds  corn  meal  and  one 
third  rye  meal,  not  rye  flour,  which  makes  most  delicious 
bread  at  less  than  one  half  the  cost  of  wheat  flour. 

We  could  go  on  a  long  time  pointing  out  the  errors  of 
living,  in  which  economy  is  lost  sight  of,  if  we  thought 
the  wished-for  effect  would  be  produced.  We  urge  all 
to  think  of  what  we  have  said,  and  that  one  of  the  best 


EVILS  OF  FAMINE— HOMINY.  25 

things  that  can  be  done  for  the  poor  is  to  teach  them 
practical  economy  in  every-day  life. 

No  charitable  societies  have  ever  done  so  much  good 
to  the  poor  by  a  distribution  of  food  as  they  could  do  by 
printing  and  putting  into  the  hands  of  every  family  a 
little  tract  containing  practical  lessons  of  economy  in  the 
art  of  living  well  and  living  cheap — an  art  that  would 
prevent  the  waste  of  food,  and  lessen  the  expense  of  first 
purchases,  and  increase  the  nutritious  qualities,  while 
it  added  immensely  to  the  table  enjoyment  of  every 
family. 

In  a  great  majority  of  cases  it  may  be  set  down  as  an 
incontrovertible  fact  that  want  comes  of  waste,  and  waste 
comes  of  want  of  knowledge  of  the  properties  of  diflFerent 
articles  of  food,  and  how  to  combine  them  so  as  to  pro- 
duce the  most  beneficial  efifect. 

It  may  be  set  down  as  another  incontrovertible  fact, 
that  no  class  of  people  can  want  food  and  remain  virtu- 
ous. Their  degeneracy,  both  physically  and  morally,  is 
certain.  It  is  our  religious  duty,  then,  to  study  and  teach 
economy  in  food,  and  the  art  of  living  better  and  cheap- 
er ;  more  in  accordance  with  the  principles  that  promote 
health,  vigor,  intellectual  capacity,  comfort,  happiness, 
and  morality  of  the  human  family. 

How  much  good  would  come  of  it  if  we  should  prac- 
tice upon  the  text  that  forms  the  title  of  this  article  ! 
Let  those  who  read  and  think  first  set  the  example ;  the 
unthinking  will  follow,  and  their  children  will  rise  up 
and  call  them  blessed. 

I  think  that  I  can  afford  to  devote  one  chapter  to  a 
dissertation  upon 

HOMINY. 

Hominy  we  have  before  given  our  opinion  upon.  It  is 
an  article  that  no  family,  desirous  of  practicing  economy, 
can  do  without.     It  is  a  very  cheap,  healthy,  nutritious 


26  HOMINY— HOW  TO  COOK  IT. 

food.  It  usually  costs  only  half  the  price  per  pound  of 
flour,  and  contains  no  moisture,  while  the  best  of  flour 
holds  from  twelve  to  sixteen  pounds  of  water  in  a  barrel. 
I  have  known  potatoes,  hominy,  and  white  beans  to  be  all 
sold  at  the  same  price,  $2  50  a  bushel,  and  rice  but  a  little 
dearer.  If  a  man  can  aftord  to  eat  fried  gold  for  break- 
fast, boiled  bank-notes  for  dinner,  and  roasted  dollars  for 
supper,  he  can  afford  to  eat  potatoes  cooked  in  the  same 
way,  and  not  otherwise,  at  such  high  prices.  In  point 
of  economy  as  human  food,  one  bushel  of  beans  or  hom- 
iny is  equal  to  ten  of  potatoes. 

It  is  surprising  how  little  is  known  of  this  nutritious, 
healthy  food  ;  and  what  an  excellent  substitute  it  is  for 
potatoes  during  the  continuation  of  the  disease  among 
them,  which  renders  some  that  are  fair  to  the  eye  unfit  for 
food,  and  all  exceedingly  dear,  even  at  the  present  rate  of 
about  one  dollar  and  a  half  a  bushel  as  an  average  cost 
to  the  consumer  in  N"ew  York,  in  December,  1855. 

Hominy,  too,  is  a  dish  almost  as  universally  liked  as 
potatoes,  and  at  the  South  it  is  more  freely  eaten  ;  while 
at  the  North  it  is  seldom  seen.  In  fact,  it  is  an  unknown 
food  except  to  a  few  persons  in  cities.  By  hominy,  we 
do  not  mean  a  sort  of  coarse  meal,  but  grains  of  white 
corn  from  which  the  hull  and  chit,  or  eye,  has  been  re- 
moved by  moistening  and  pounding  in  a  wooden  mortar, 
or  patent  hulling  machine,  leaving  the  grains  almost 
whole,  and  composed  of  little  else  but  starch.  It  has 
often  been  said,  not  one  cook  in  ten  knows  how  to  boil  a 
potato.  "We  may  add  another  cipher  when  speaking  of  the 
very  simple  process  of  cooking  hominy.  We  give  the 
formula  from  our  own  experience,  and  from  instructions 
received  in  a  land  where  "  hog  and  hominy"  are  well 
understood.  Wash  slightly  in  cold  water,  and  soak 
twelve  hours  in  tepid,  soft  water,  then  boil  slowly  from 
three  to  six  hours  in  same  water,  with  plenty  more  added 
from  time  to  time  with  great  care  to  prevent  burning. 
Don't  salt  while  cooking^  as  that  or  hard  loater  wiU  harden 


HOMINY— SIX  WAYS  TO  COOK  IT.  27 

the  corn ;  so  it  will  peas  or  beans,  green  or  dry,  and 
rice  also.  When  done,  add  butter  and  salt ;  or  a  better 
way  is  to  let  each  one  season  to  suit  the  taste.  It  may 
be  eaten  with  meat  in  lieu  of  vegetables,  or  with  sugar  or 
syrup.  It  is  good,  hot  or  cold,  and  the  more  frequently 
it  is  warmed  over,  it  is  like  the  old-fashioned  pot  of 

"  Bean  porridge  hot,  or  bean  porridge  cold, 
Bean  porridge  best  at  nine  days  old." 

So  is  hominy  ;  it  is  good  always,  and  very  wholesome, 
and,  like  tomatoes,  only  requires  to  be  eaten  once  or 
twice  to  fix  the  taste  in  its  favor. 

In  this  city  this  article  is  called  samp,  and  the  name 
hominy  is  given  to  corn  cracked  in  a  mill,  and  winnowed 
and  sifted,  and  numbered  according  to  its  fineness. 

It  is  cheap,  healthy  food.  I  have  thought  proper  to 
add  a  few  of  the  ways  in  which  hominy  may  be  used. 

Hominy  Breakfast  Cakes. — Mash  the  cold  hominy 
with  a  rolling-pin,  and  add  a  little  ilour-and-milk  batter, 
so  as  to  make  the  whole  thick  enough  to  form  into  little 
cakes  in  the  hand,  or  it  may  be  put  upon  the  griddle  with 
a  spoon.  Bake  brown,  eat  hot,  and  declare  you  never 
ate  any  thing  better  of  the  batter-cake  kind. 

Hominy  and  Milk,  hot  or  cold,  is  as  much  better  than 
mush-and-milk  as  that  is  better  than  rye-meal  porridge. 

Hominy  Puddinct. — Prepare  as  for  batter  cakes,  add 
one  egg  to  each  pint,  some  whole  cinnamon,  sugar  to  suit 
the  taste,  and  a  few  raisins,  and  bake  like  rice  pudding. 
A  little  butter  or  chopped  suet  may  be  added.  Serve  hot 
or  cold,  with  or  without  sauce. 

Hominy  Salad. — ^To  a  pint  of  cold  hominy  add  a  small 
onion,  a  quarter  of  a  boiled  chicken,  or  about  the  same 
quantity  of  lobster,  chopped  fine,  to  which  some  add  a 
small  pickle.  To  be  dressed  with  sweet  oil,  mustard, 
pepper,  and  vinegar.  It  is  a  very  good  substitute  for 
green  salads  at  seasons  when  the  latter  can  not  be  ob- 
tained. 


28  WORKINGMETS   DAILY  RATIONS. 

Hominy  and  Bkans. — Mix  equal  parts  of  cold  baked 
beans  and  hominy  together,  and  heat  up,  and  you  will 
have  an  excellent  dish. 

Hominy  Beating. — We  presume  we  have  heard  of  a 
Btill  evening,  while  floating  in  our  skiff  down  the  Ohio 
River,  in  days 

"  Long,  long  ago," 

a  hundred  hominy  mortars  in  operation,  as  this  is  or  was 
a  common  occupation  of  the  negroes'  evenings,  beating 
their  iiavorite  food. 

Of  late  years,  throughout  the  South,  the  ground  hom- 
iny, or  cracked  corn,  has  in  a  great  measure  driven  the 
old  hominy  mortar  out  of  use.  This  is  cooked  in  the 
same  way,  by  soaking  and  boiling,  until  it  becomes  gelat- 
inous, and  then,  when  cold,  if  cut  in  slices  and  fried  in  a 
little  fat,  will  often  be  eaten  in  preference  to  any  other 
bread. 

At  the  South,  negroes  prefer  corn  meal  to  wheat 
flour,  pound  for  pound.  It  is  ground  very  coarse, 
and  frequently  eaten,  hulls  and  all,  in  preference  to 
sifting. 

The  full  allowance  for  a  laboring  man  or  woman — one 
that  toils  all  the  hours  of  daylight  in  the  field,  is  a  peck 
and  a  half  of  corn  meal  and  three  and  a  half  pounds  of 
fat  bacon.  In  the  cotton  States  the  average  price  of  the 
corn  is  about  seventy-five  cents  a  bushel,  and  the  price  of 
bacon  eight  cents  a  pound.  This  would  make  the  week's 
rations  cost  fifty-six  cents  a  week.  At  still  higher  rates, 
it  would  not  be  a  Dime  a  day  ;  in  many  places,  not  half 
that.  In  many  places,  though,  the  negroes  do  not  get  half 
the  above  rations.  In  this  city  a  peck  and  a  half  of  meal 
and  three  and  a  half  pounds  of  bacon  would  average  a 
cost  of  ninety  cents.  Few  would  be  willing  to  live  upon 
that  alone.  It  would  not  be  good  economy  to  do  so.  It 
would  be  good  economy  for  us  all  to  use  more  Indian 
corn  meal.     I  offer  to  those  who  will  try  the  economy  as 


CORN  BREAD  AND  CHILDREN'S  FOOD.         29 

well  as  palatableness  of  a  loaf  of  wheat  and  Indian  bread, 
the  following  good  receipt : 

To  two  quarts  of  Indian  meal  add  boiling  water  enough 
to  wet  the  same ;  when  sufficiently  cooled,  add  one  tea- 
spoonful  of  salt,  half  a  pint  of  yeast,  one  teaspoonful  of 
saleratus,  one  half  teapcupful  of  molasses,  and  ilour 
enough  to  form  it  into  a  loaf  (it  should  not  be  kneaded 
hard) ;  when  light,  bake  two  hours  in  a  well-heated  oven. 
(It  should  be  baked  until  brown.) 

All  corn  bread  should  be  cooked  a  long  time.  The 
negroes  often  bury  the  dough  in  the  hot  embers  all 
night. 

Economy  in  cooking  is  as  much  required  as  economy 
in  purchasing  the  food. 

Domestic  happiness  is  greatly  dependent  upon  the 
manner  in  which  the  cooking  department  of  the  house- 
hold is  managed,  whether  by  the  mistress  or  a  hireling. 

A  cook  who  can  make  a  good  loaf  of  bread,  boil  a  po- 
tato aright,  or  broil  a  mutton-chop  properly,  is  one  of  a 
thousand,  and  perhaps  she  would  not  know  how  to  make 
a  pot  of  mush,  because  it  is  so  seldom  made,  where  its 
use  would  promote  both  health  and  economy. 

Despising  household  duties  is  one  of  the  sins  of  Ameri- 
can women.  A  woman  need  not  be  a  drudge,  or  slave  to 
care,  but  still  be  the  director  of  all  the  household  affairs. 
The  woman,  whatever  her  position  and  wealth,  who  at. 
tends  to  her  own  housekeeping  affairs,  reaps  her  reward 
in  improved  health  and  freedom  from  lassitude,  which  she 
suffers  through  neglect  of  exercise. 

Many  a  mother  has  unwittingly  pampered  her  chil- 
drens'  appetites  till  she  has  created  disease,  and  inbred 
into  their  natures  profligacy  and  selfishness.  If  the 
economy  of  food  was  understood,  it  would  save  many 
errors.  Nothing  that  is  unwholesome  for  children  should 
be  ever  set  before  them. 

How  many  doctors'  bills  are  made  by  inattention  to  diet ! 

This  is  poor  economy.     So  it  is  to  despise  any  of  the 


m  WHAT  SHALL  WE  EAT? 

little  matters  about  household  expenses,  that  would  save 
the  expenditure  of  money. 

Look  how  much  you  could  save  in  a  year,  or  decade 
of  years,  by  this  simple  receipt  for  making 

FIRE    KINDLERS. 

Melt  three  pounds  of  resin  in  a  quart  of  tar,  and  stir  in 
as  much  sawdust  and  pulverized  charcoal  as  you  can,  and 
then  spread  the  mass  upon  a  board  till  cool,  and  then 
break  it  into  lumps  as  big  as  your  thumb.  You  can  light 
it  with  a  match,  and  it  will  light  a  fire,  for  it  burns  with 
a  strong  blaze.  It  is  economical  of  time  and  money.  It 
may  cost  three  shillings,  and  save  ten  shillings'  worth  of 
wood. 

WHAT    SHALL    WE    EAT? 

is  one  of  the  most  frequent  and  most  unanswerable  ques- 
tions in  the  human  family. 

With  a  hard  winter — every  winter  is  hard  for  the  poor — 
before  us — with  the  cold  winds  of  this  dreary  month  of 
December  peering  into  every  crack  of  our  houses — with 
labor  scarce  and  wages  low,  particularly  to  every  woman 
who  depends  upon  the  work  of  her  fingers  for  food — with 
a  large  population  out  of  employment — with  suffering 
staring  all  in  the  face  who  depend  upon  daily  wages,  and 
make  no  daily  provision  for  a  day  of  trouble — with  the 
price  of  food,  and  fuel,  and  rent  as  high  as  it  is  in  this 
city,  it  behooves  every  one  to  inquire  :  What  shall  we  eatf 

When  wages  are  two  dollars  a  day,  the  laboring  man 
may  eat  roast  beef  and  plum  pudding ;  but  if  he  does  so 
often  he  knows  little  of  economy. 

We  can  not  cheapen  food,  but  we  can  eat  cheaper  food  ; 
and  whatever  will  tend  to  teach  those  who  look  long  at  a 
Dime  before  they  spend  it,  what  to  buy,  will  be  to  them 
a  blessing.  Whatever  I  can  show  them  what  to  eat,  less 
expensive  than  their  accustomed  diet,  should  be  at  once 


RYE  AND  INDIAN  BREAD.  81 


adopted.  Although  I  may  repeat  something  said  before  in 
these  pages,  I  shall  make  the  following  suggestions  upon 
this  page: 

Fresh  meat  of  all  kinds,  at  the  prices  at  which  butchers 
retail  it,  is  not  economical  food.  Meats  will  averaire  over 
a  shilling  a  pound.  Salted  meats  are  cheaper  than  fresh. 
In  economizing  food,  meat  should  never  be  fried  or  boiled. 
If  you  would  get  the  most  substance  out  of  fi-esh  meat, 
make  it  into  soup,  or  stew,  or  pot-pie.  In  making  soup, 
soak  your  meat  some  hours  in  cold  water,  and  boil  it  in 
the  same.  Thicken  with  beans,  peas,  rice,  barley,  hom- 
iny, or  broken  bread.  The  best  meat  is  the  most  eco- 
nomical for  soup.     Do  not  buy  bones. 

If  you  boil  meat  to  eat,  never  put  it  in  cold  water.  Let 
it  be  boiling  when  you  put  the  meat  in  the  pot.  Do  not 
buy  fresh  meat  a  pound  or  two  at  a  time.  Buy  a  quarter 
or  half  a  sheep.  You  get  it  at  half  price.  Beef  or  pork 
by  the  quarter  is  a  quarter  cheaper. 

True,  the  woman  with  the  Dime  can  not  partake  of  this 
advantage.  Many  families  can  that  do  not.  Many  could 
unite,  one  with  another,  and  buy  at  wholesale  rates.  It 
is  a  kind  of  economy,  worth  more  than  a  Dime.  Look 
at  the  "  flour  leagues"  that  have  been  formed  in  the  East- 
ern States,  by  which  families  have  obtained  their  flour 
one  or  two  dollaz's  cheaper  in  a  barrel.  So  the  man  who 
studies  economy  may  save  a  dime  here,  a  dollar  there, 
which  at  last  will  amount  to  an  eagle. 

A  dollar  saved  upon  a  barrel  of  flour  is  equal  to  a  gift 
of  sixteen  loaves  of  bakers'  bread.  But,  I  repeat,  do  not 
buy  your  bread  ready  baked.  It  is  sixpence  a  pound. 
Dry  flour  is  the  same  price.  Home-made  bread  is  far 
more  nutritious. 

Rye  and  Indian  Bread. — Here  is  a  good  receipt  for 
making  this  cheap,  wholesome  bread. 

Stir  and  mix  most  thoroughly  two  quarts  of  Indian 
corn  meal  with  a  tablespoonful  of  salt  and  a  quart  of 
boiling  water,  or  enough  to  wet  every  grain  of  meal. 


#  THE  VALUE  OF   OATMEAL. 


When  the  mnsh  cools  to  milk-warm,  Btir  in  one  quart 
of  rye  meal,  and  a  teaeupful  of  good  yeast,  which  you 
will  first  mix  with  half  a  pint  of  warm  water,  so  that  the 
yeast  will  be  more  evenly  diffused.  With  the  rye  meal 
add  water  enough  to  make  the  mass  a  stiff  dough,  but 
not  as  hard  or  tough  as  flour.  It  must  be  kneaded  with 
the  hands.  {Rememher — rye  meal  is  not  rye  jiour.  It  is 
the  product  of  the  whole  grain.]  Put  the  dough  in  a  pan, 
and  pat  it  smooth  with  a  wet  hand.  It  will  rise  in  an 
hour,  in  a  warm  place,  enough  to  bake,  and  should  be 
put  in  a  hot  oven,  and  remain  three  hours ;  or,  if  all 
night,  all  the  better. 

We  should  make  greater  use  of  home-made  bread,  and 
then  we  should  escape  the  deleterious  adulterations  of 
the  baker,  not  half  of  which  have  I  mentioned. 

Every  family,  whether  rich  or  poor,  or  in  town  or 
country,  should  make  it  a  religious  duty  to  make  use  of 
more  corn  meal,  oatmeal,  Graham  flour,  hominy,  and  crack- 
ed wheat  for  bread,  in  preference  to  fine  wheat  flour,  both 
for  health  and  economy.  Look  at  the  relative  retail  pri- 
ces per  pound  of  these  articles  on  page  23,  and  see  which 
will  give  the  most  nutriment  for  the  least  money ;  not 
which  will  afford  you  the  most  fashionable  bread.  If 
white  fine  flour  was  not  fashionable,  or  if  people  did  not 
think  that  brown  bread  has  a  look  of  poverty,  we  should 
have  the  brown  bread  upon  every  table,  for  it  is  not  only 
more  economical,  it  is  more  nutritious  and  more  healthy, 
particularly  for  children. 

We  do  not  eat  oatmeal  in  this  country  to  any  extent, 
and  yet  it  is  the  most  nutritious  breadstuff  ever  used  by 
man.  Look  at  the  Scotch  with  their  oatmeal  porridge — 
as  robust  a  set  of  men  as  ever  lived. 

A  Highlander  will  scale  mountains  all  daj'  upon  a  diet 
of  oatmeal  stirred  in  water  fresh  from  a  gurgling  spring 
with  his  finger,  in  a  leather  cup.  Another  excellent, 
though  little  used  breadstuff,  particularly  for  the  sedentary, 
or  persons  of  costive  habits,  is  cracked  wheat,  or  wheaten 


THE  VALUE  OF   GRAHAM  FLOUR.  88 

grits,  as  the  article  is  called.  That  and  Graham  flour 
should  be  used  in  preference,  at  the  same  price  per  pound, 
to  white  flour,  because  more  healthy  and  more  nutritious. 
One  hundred  pounds  of  Graham  flour  is  worth  full  as 
much  in  a  family  as  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  pounds 
of  superfine  white  flour.  Corn  meal  usually  costs  less 
than  half  the  price  of  flour.  It  is  worth  twice  as  much. 
It  is  not  80  economical  in  summer,  because  it  takes  so 
much  fire  to  cook  it.  The  first  great  error  in  preparing 
corn  meal  is  in  grinding  it  too  much,  and  next  in  not 
cooking  it  enough.  Corn-meal  mush  should  boil  two 
hours ;  it  is  better  if  boiled  four,  and  not  fit  to  eat  if 
boiled  less  than  one  hour.  Buckwheat  flour  should  never 
be  purchased  by  a  family  who  are  obliged  to  economize 
food.  It  is  dear  at  any  price,  because  it  must  be  floated 
in  dear  butter  to  be  eaten,  and  then  it  is  not  healthy. 
Oatmeal  makes  as  good  cakes  as  buckwheat,  and  far  more 
nutritious.  But  it  is  more  nutritious,  and  is  particularly 
healthy  for  children,  in  the  form  of  porridge. 

Pork  and  Beans. — Perhaps  I  run  the  risk  of  ridicule 
by  reiterating  here,  what  I  have  so  often  asserted,  that 
white  beans,  at  the  ordinary  prices,  in  most  places,  if 
not  all,  are  the  cheapest,  because  the  most  nutritious  of 
all  vegetables.  Beans  enter  very  largely  into  the  diet  of 
the  inhabitants  of  some  countries.  This  is  particularly 
the  case  in  Mexico.  Baked  beans,  with  salt  pork,  used 
to  be  one  of  the  most  common  dishes  in  New  England. 
I  have  read  somewhere  that  Professor  Liebig  has  stated 
that  pork  and  beans  form  a  compound  of  substances  pe- 
culiarly adapted  to  furnish  all  that  is  necessary  to  sup- 
port life,  and  give  bone,  muscle,  and  fat,  in  proper  pro^ 
portions,  to  a  man.  This  food  will  enable  one  to  perform 
more  labor,  at  less  cost,  th.an  any  other  substance.  A 
quart  of  beans,  eight  cents,  half  a  pound  of  pork,  six 
cents,  will  feed  a  large  family  for  a  day,  with  good 
strengthening  food. 

Bean  Porridge  is  another  of  the  old-fashion  dishes  of 

2^ 


84  WHAT   WE  MAY  EAT. 


New  England.  We  should  call  it  bean  soup  now.  Four 
quarts  of  beans  and  two  pounds  of  corned  beef,  "  boiled 
to  rags"  in  fifty  quarts  of  water,  would  give  a  good  meal 
to  fifty  men — one  cent  a  meal. 

PoTAToKS  NOT  Chkap  Food. — Potatocs  should  be  utterly 
abandoned  by  the  poor,  when  a  dollar  or  more  is  the  sell- 
ing price.  They  can  not  afibrd  to  eat  them.  Potatoes 
are  selling  at  wholesale,  for  an  average  of  two  dollars  a 
barrel,  which  is  eighty-seven  and  a  half  cents  a  bushel. 
At  retail,  the  poor  pay  two  dollars  a  bushel,  or  about  four 
cents  a  pound,  which  is  about  as  much  as  corn  meal ; 
more  than  half  as  much  as  fine  flour ;  nearly  as  much  a 
bushel  as  beans,  while  one  bushel  of  the  latter  are  worth, 
for  food,  as  much  as  a  cart-load  of  potatoes.  All  other 
vegetables  are  still  more  uneconomical  than  potatoes. 
Carrots  are  the  cheapest  of  all  roots.  But  they  are  but 
little  used  as  human  food,  though  very  nutritious.  They 
are  good,  simple  boiled,  and  eaten  with  a  little  butter  or 
meat  gravy.  They  should  always  form  an  ingredient  of 
soup.  They  are  sold  by  the  quantity,  at  fifty  cents  a 
bushel.  Turnips  are  dear  at  any  price.  There  is  more 
nutriment  in  a  quart  of  carrots  than  in  a  bushel  of  tur- 
nips. Tliey  are  eighty-two  per  cent,  water.  Cabbage  is 
nutritious,  but  very  expensive.  Buy  very  little  of  it  if 
your  money  is  short.  Dried  sweet  corn  is  an  article  that 
all  persons  are  fond  of.  It  sells  for  four  dollars  to  five 
dollars  a  bushel,  which  weighs  forty-two  pounds,  and 
would  retail  at  about  ten  cents  a  pound.  We  don't  know 
about  the  economy  of  eating  it,  as  compared  with  other 
breadstuffs,  but  as  compared  with  coarse  vegetables  it  is 
immeasurably  cheaper.  A  pound  of  sweet  corn  cooked 
to  be  eaten  with  meat,  is  worth  more  than  three  pounds 
of  extra  meat.  It  is  also  very  excellent  and  nutritious 
mixed  in  the  bean  soup. 

Another  very  excellent,  nutritious,  economical  article 
of  food  is  dried  peas.  They  are  generally  a  little  more 
costly  than  beans,  but  some  think  they  will  go  further. 


VEGETABLE  DIET— TEA  AND  COFFEE.  9B 

At  any  rate  they  are  good  for  a  change.  It  would  be 
good  for  a  change  for  those  who  are  put  to  their  wits'  end 
to  know  how  to  get  food  enough  to  feed  their  families,  if 
any  thing  that  we  have  said  shall  put  them  in  a  way  of 
changing  some  of  their  old  habits,  so  as  to  buy  such  arti- 
cles as  will  satisfy  hunger,  while  giving  them  health  and 
strength,  for  less  than  half  the  money  they  are  now  ex- 
pending, though  living  only  half  comfortably. 

That  the  laboring  man  onusi  eat  meat  is  a  fallacy.  I 
have  seen  thousands  of  laboring  men,  in  South  Carolina, 
who  never  eat  meat.  Thousands  of  others  do  not  eat 
meat,  or  food  made  of  meat,  oftener  than  once  a  week. 
Half  a  bushel  of  sweet  potatoes  is  a  common  allowance 
for  rice-iield  hands  a  week.  Sometimes  it  is  a  peck  of 
rice,  or  meal,  with  soup,  one  day  in  the  week,  made  by 
boiling  fifteen  pounds  of  meat,  with  crude  vegetables,  in 
eighty  quarts  of  water.  Upon  such  diet  men  are  healthy, 
if  not  strong. 

Dyspeptic  persons  may  enjoy  a  full  meal  without  meat 
vastly  to  their  benefit.  Bread  and  potatoes ;  or  bread, 
potatoes,  and  apples;  or  bread,  potatoes,  apples,  and 
squash  ;  or  a  hundred  other  combinations.  A  full  diet 
does  not  consist  in  any  given  number  or  kind  of  articles ; 
but  on  the  proper  quantity  and  quality  of  some  or  all 
kinds  of  food.  Because  the  appetite  craves  meat,  does 
not  prove  it  necessary,  any  more  than  the  cravings  of  viti- 
ated appetites  after  rum  and  tobacco.  Still,  I  do  not  rec- 
ommend all  to  discard  meat.  I  only  ask  them  to  exer- 
cise more  economy  in  its  purchase  and  preparation. 

TEA    AND    COFFEE. 

As  I  do  not  discard  meat  from  the  poor  man's  diet,  the 
poor  woman  will  of  course  console  herself  with  the  hope 
that  I  shall  not  discard  tea  and  coffee. 

I  will  compromise  the  matter  by  allowing  her  to  retain 
black  tea,  if  properly  made. 


86  TEA  AND  COFFEE— COLD  WATER. 

If  black  tea  is  steeped  a  few  minutes  in  the  usual  way 
of  making  green  tea,  the  decoction  is  acrid  and  unpala- 
table. If  boiled  steadily  for  15  to  30  minutes,  the  resinous 
snbstance  is  dissolved  and  the  flavor  entirely  changed. 

I  never  use  green  tea,  and  never  recommend  it  to  be 
used,  because  it  is  a  manufactured  article,  frequently 
colored  with  deleterious  drugs.  Coffee  I  never  use,  be- 
cause experience  taught  me,  by  a  long  trial  of  daily  use, 
and  subsequent  well-managed  experiments  upon  myself, 
that  it  was  the  cause  of  all  my  severe  suffering  from 
nervous  and  sick  headaches.  Because  I  know  this,  I 
have  discarded  its  use.     CoiFee  is  not  food. 

And  certainly,  for  all  those  who  buy  stuff  called 
"ground  coffee,"  I  would  recommend  as  equally  nutri- 
tious, and  far  more  health}^  a  decoction  of  burned  crusts, 
burned  bran,  burned  rye,  burned  peas,  burned  carrots,  and 
many  other  cheap  substances;  and  if  not  aromatic  enough, 
buy  the  "  essence  of  coffee,"  and  add  a  few  drops.  If 
not  bitter  enough,  add  quassia  chips.  If  not  astringent 
enough,  you  can  get  that  quality  from  oak  bark,  cheaper 
than  the  coffee  berry. 

Asparagus  seeds,  treated  just  like  coffee,  make  a  de- 
coction un distinguishable  from  the  real  Mocha  or  Java. 

But  as  long  as  pure  water  pours  down  Niagara  Falls, 
the  same  element  may  be  poured  down  all  our  throats 
far  more  economically,  and  far  more  healthih^  than  any 
decoction  of  berries,  roots,  beans,  grain,  or  any  brewing 
or  distillation  of  the  same. 

Of  the  economy  of  water  used  freely  upon  the  exterior 
also,  as  well  as  for  drink,  I  could  not  say  too  much,  and 
yet  have  not  room  to  say  but  these  few  words. 

If  you  wash  all  over  every  morning  with  cold  water 
as  a  regular  habit,  and  use  nothing  but  cold  water  for 
drink,  you  can  work  all  day  in  a  cold  room  without  feel- 
ing the  want  of  fire,  and  your  health  will  be  such  that 
you  will  relish  plain,  coarse  food,  and  thus  will  enjoy  the 
benefit  of  economy  in  a  three-fold  sense. 


VENTILATION.  37 


Next  to  the  neglect  of  water — and,  in  fact,  it  should  rank 
first — is  the  neglect  of  air.  The  very  worst  economy  is 
that  which  poisons  people  with  dwellings  that  have  no 
Ventilation. 

"Wherever  we  go,  we  find  a  lamentable  ignorance  of 
the  laws  which  govern  the  human  system.  Among  the 
laws  of  health,  no  one,  perhaps,  merits  our  serious  atten- 
tion more  than  that  of  fresh  air.  It  may  be  said  with 
truth,  that  not  one  building  in  a  thousand,  in  this  coun- 
try, is  properly  ventilated.  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  regatd  to  our  school-houses,  churches,  halls,  and 
other  public  buildings,  where  large  bodies  of  people  fre- 
quently congregate.  In  our  churches  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible for  any  one  not  to  be  struck  with  the  deficiency  in 
means  of  ventilation  ;  and  even  the  slight  means  which 
are  at  hand  are  very  generally  disregarded :  the  doors 
are  closed,  and  windows  kept  down  in  stifling  hot  weath- 
er, as  though  fresh  air  were  poison,  and  by  no  means  to 
be  inhaled  except  at  long  and  painful  intervals.  A  few 
moments'  sitting  convinces  any  one  accustomed  to  breath- 
ing real  and  substantial  air,  that  lie  is  killing  himself  by 
degrees — a  feeling  of  drowsiness  overcomes  him,  and  it 
requires  an  eflTort  on  his  part  to  prevent  himself  from 
falling  asleep,  and  nodding  perhaps  unwilling  coinci- 
dence with  the  doctrines  held  forth  in  the  pulpit.  It  is 
no  extraordinary  thing  for  us  to  see  men  and  women 
asleep  in  church,  and  it  is  very  common  to  hear  people 
declaim  against  it  as  a  sin  of  the  first  magnitude.  In  our 
opinion  the  sin  consists  in  going  where  fresh  air  is  a 
rarity,  and  thus  inhaling  poisonous  and  baleful  air,  to  the 
great  detriment  of  health  and  happiness.  Let  churches, 
school-houses,  and  all  other  public  and  private  establish- 
ments, be  ventilated  properly,  and  there  will  be  no  difli- 
culty  in  keeping  people  awake  with  a  very  ordinary  ser- 
mon or  lecture." 

In  all  our  tenant  houses  the  same  thing  prevails  in  an 
aggravated  form,  and  will  continue  until  we  have  a  Board 


38  A  NEW  BOOK  ON   ECONOMY. 

of  Healtli  possessed  of  power  to  guard  the  health  of  the 
people. 

Upon  the  subject  of  economy,  generally,  I  shall  now 
produce  a  few  extracts  from  a  new  book  just  published 
by  Bunce  &  Brothers,  New  York,  entitled  Home  Com- 
forts /  or.  Economy  Illustrated^  by  Lillie  Savery ;  of 
■which  the  publishers  truly  say  in  their  advertisement, 
that  "no  one  can  read  the  book  without  being  interested 
in  its  lessons  of  economy  in  things  that  pertain  to  every- 
day life  in  every  family." 

It  is  written  in  a  pleasant  narrative  form,  like  telling  a 
good  story,  and  may  be  read  with  profit  by  all  classes ; 
and  we  are  confident  that  no  one  can  read  it  without  be- 
ing interested,  amused,  and  instructed. 

An  illustration  of  the  economy  of  order  and  neatness 
we  extract  from  page  11.  Mrs.  Savery  invites  a  lady  to 
go  to  her  kitchen  to  learn  how  to  make  a  corn-meal  cake. 
She  is  telling  her  friend  the  story. 

"  I  had  a  good  mind  to  refuse,  for  I  expected  that  I 
should  get  a  grease  spot  on  my  new  silk,  just  as  like  as 
not.  I  am  sure  I  should  in  my  kitchen  ;  but  would  you 
believe  it,  hers  is  as  clean  as  a  new  pin.  Why,  the  very 
floor  looks  as  white  and  clean  as  a  table.  I  do  think  she 
must  keep  that  Susan  of  hers  "scrubbing  all  the  time. 
For  my  part  I  don't  see  how  she  ever  gets  through  all  the 
work,  and  do  the  washing  too.  I  wish  I  could  get  sucli 
help." 

It  is  not  the  help — it  is  as  ranch  the  mistress  as  the 
maid. 

"Mrs.  Savery  says  it  is  by  economy.  Economy  of 
time,  as  well  as  every  thing  else,  that  keeps  a  house  neat 
and  in  order." 

THE    CORN    CAKE. 

"But  about  the  nice  corn  cake?" 

"Oh,  yes.  Well,  I  never;  why,  it  was  just  nothing 
to  make.     I  could  have  made  it  just  as  well  as  she  did." 


THE  CORN  CAKE.  89 


"  If  you  had  known  how." 

"  Why,  yes,  to  be  sure  ;  but  it  is  nothing  to  learn  ;  and 
then  to  hear  her  count  the  cost.  Why,  she  would  feed  a 
whole  family  for  sixpence.  In  the  first  place  she  took  a 
cup  of  Indian  corn  meal,  not  over  three  cents'  worth,  she 
said,  and  white  at  that — I  always  use  yellow  meal — it 
has  more  taste  than  the  white — and  put  it  in  a  clean 
wooden  bowl,  and  what  do  you  think  she  mixed  with  it, 
to  make  her  cake  ?     Water ;  nothing  but  water. 

"  Yes,  a  little  pinch  of  salt ;  but  that,  she  said,  she 
could  not  count  the  cost  of,  it  was  so  small ;  and  then 
she  mixed,  and  stirred,  and  beat  the  meal  and  water  to- 
gether as  though  she  was  beating  eggs,  until  she  got  it 
into  a  smooth  batter  that  would  just  pour  into  a  shallow 
tin  pan  about  an  inch  deep.  The  cake,  when  done,  was 
about  as  thick  as  ray  thumb.  She  first  put  the  pan  into 
a  very  hot  oven  and  let  it  cook  until  the  batter  got  stifi", 
and  then  she  opened  the  stove  doors  and  set  the  cake  up 
edgeways  right  before  the  glowing  coals  until  it  got  a 
nice,  delicate  brown  crust,  and  then  drew  it  back  and  let 
it  bake  slow  a  long  time — half  an  hour  or  more,  I  should 
think." 

"  And  was  it  good  ?" 

'•Good!  why,  I  declare  I  never,  tasted  any  thing  so 
delicious  in  all  my  life.  I  wouldn't  have  believed  it,  that 
just  meal  and  water  could  be  made  so  good.  But  that 
is  not  all.  Just  as  she  had  got  her  cake  turned  up  before 
the  fire,  in  came  her  two  children — such  pictures  of 
health — did  you  ever  see  the  like  !" 

"She  says  that  is  'the  economy  of  health.'  It  is 
cheaper  to  keep  them  healthy  than  sick,  as  well  as  more 
comfortable.     You  found  them  very  neat,  too." 

"Neat!  I  never  saw  the  like.  But  it's  no  wonder; 
look  at  the  pains  she  takes  with  them.  Why,  it  must 
keep  Susan  busy  all  the  time." 

"  Then  who  does  the  work  ?" 

"  Well,  I  don't  know.     I  can't  understand  it.     I  wish 


40  THE  CORN-MEAL  SWEET   CAKE. 

I  could  get  along  so.  But  then  my  children  are  alwaj^s 
sick.  Hers  are  always  well,  and  that  makes  the  differ- 
ence." 

"  Is o ;  the  difference  is  in  always  keeping  them  well. 
But  you  were  going  to  tell  us  something  more  about  the 
cake." 

"  Oh,  yes.      When  the  children  came  in,  Lillie  said, 

" '  Oh,  mother,  will  you  let  me  bake  a  sweet  cake  for 
brother  Frank  and  me?'"  .; 

"'Yes,  if  you  will  run  up  to  your  room  and  put  away 
your  things,  and  get  on  your  aprons.' 

"  Directl}'  down  they  came,  and  as  I  live,  both  of  them 
with  check  aprons  on.  I  should  not  like  to  see  my  chil- 
dren dressed  in  check  aprons.  It  looks  so  common,  and 
sort  of  countrified.  Then  Lillie  took  the  bowl  of  batter, 
and  got  a  part  of  a  teacupful  of  molasses,  and  a  spoon- 
ful of  ginger,  and  stirred  it  in,  and  then  she  got  a  cup 
of  sour  milk;  and  what  do  you  think  that  was  for?" 

"  I  suppose  to  put  in  the  cake." 

"  Yes;  but  first  she  mixed  with  it  a  little  swper  of  car- 
bonate of  soda,  until  she  set  it  all  foaming,  and  then  stirred 
it  into  the  batter,  with  a  little  more  meal  to  thicken  it 
again,  and  poured  it  into  an  iron  pan  about  twice  as  deep 
as  the  other,  and  clapped  it  right  into  the  hot  oven,  where 
it  baked  until  we  had  almost  done  tea,  and  then  Susan 
brought  it  in  smoking  hot,  and  Mrs.  Savery  cut  it  up 
into  squares,  opening  each  piece  and  laying  on  a  little 
lump  of  sweet  butter,  and  so  serving  it  round  to  each 
one  ;  and  would  you  believe  it,  in  a  respectable  family, 
that  that  was  the  only  cake  on  the  table.  I  declare  I 
had  no  great  opinion  of  corn-meal  sweet  cake,  it  seemed 
to  look  so  mean ;  and  then  I  had  already  eaten  heartily 
of  the  plain  cake,  and  did  not  tliink  I  would  touch  this 
one;  but  Lillie,  with  her  insinuating,  little  coaxing  way 
— I  don't  know  who  could  resist  her — said  I  must  taste 
her  cake  ;  and  with  that  she  asked  me  to  take  my  knife 
and  lay  it  open,  and  then  she  took  a  spoonful  of  juice 


now  TO  GROW   QUINCES.  41 

out  of  the  quince  preserves  and  spread  over  it,  and  I  be- 
gan tasting  and  tasting,  and  would  you  believe  it,  the 
first  I  thought  about  what  I  was  doing,  I  had  cleared  my 
plate,  and  Lillie  was  helping  me  to  another  piece.  She 
was  so  delighted  to  see  me  eat  it  with  such  a  relish,  when 
I  only  intended  to  'give  it  a  taste,  just  out  of  compli- 
ment.' " 

"  Then  it  was  good  ?" 

"  Good !  I  never  tasted  any  thing  more  delicious.  I 
have  often  had  a  cake  upon  my  table  that  I  paid  a  dollar 
for  that  did  not  give  half  as  much  satisfaction,  the  bakers 
are  getting  to  cheat  so  dreadfully.  I  could  have  forgiven 
her  about  her  meanness — don't  you  think  it  is  meanness? 
— in  making  shoes,  or  putting  check  aprons  on  her  chil- 
dren if  she  had  not  preached  me  one  of  her  sermons  upon 
economy,  and  actually  proved  to  me  tliat  the  supper,  de- 
licious as  it  was,  had  literally  cost  nothing,  that  is,  next 
to  nothing.  There  was  the  meal,  three  cents  ;  the  mo- 
lasses, and  salt,  and  soda,  three  cents  ;  the  tea,  two  cents  ; 
the  sugar  and  milk,  two  cents;  the  butter — butter  is  high 
now,  but  that  was  not  over  four  cents — and  lot  me  see, 
was  that  all  ?" 

"  You  mentioned  some  quince  preserves." 

"  Oh,  yes,  but  she  said  they  actually  cost  less  than 
nothing.  About  seven  years  ago — it  was  to  commemo- 
rate the  first  birthday  of  Frank — she  planted  a  quince 
bush,  and  then  she  told  how  she  made  it  grow,  and  bear 
fruit.  She  said  she  always  kept  the  ground  loose  and 
covered  in  the  summer  with  straw,  which  she  wets  with 
soap-suds  and  dish-water,  and  last  year  her  quince-tree 
bore  more  than  she  wanted  ;  and  so  a  friend  of  hers  came 
and  brought  her  own  sugar,  and  did  all  the  work,  and 
put  up  the  quinces  at  the  halves,  while  Mrs.  Savery  was 
away  on  a  visit  in  the  country.  So  she  proved,  you  see, 
that  they  really  did  cost  nothing.     I  wisli  I  could  live  so." 

So  she  could,  and  so  could  a  thousand  others  if  they 
would  practice  neatness,  order,  and  economy  in  all  things. 


42  BREAKFAST  TABLE-TALK. 


THE    FRYING-PAN. 

(Page  87.)  "  '  I  have  often  thouglit  how  much  is  wasted 
in  some  houses,  and  how  little  is  known  in  all,  of  the 
economy  of  purchasing  and  preparing  food.  I  have  read 
somewhere  that  one  half  of  the  American  people  wasted 
enough  to  feed  the  other  half,  and  that  the  greatest 
kitchen  curse  was  a  frj'ing  pan  ;  but  I  never  understood 
why.' 

"  '  It  is  because  that  meat  cooked  in  that  way  is  about 
the  worst  cooked  of  any  way  it  can  be,  both  for  health 
and  econom}'.  I  don't  know  of  but  one  thing  worse  than 
the  smell  of  burned  grease  in  the  frying-pan,  and  that  is 
that  it  should  be  taken  into  the  stomach  for  digestion. 
The  usual  practice  in  frying  meat  or  any  thing  else  is  to 
put  only  enough  fat  in  the  skillet  to  burn,  and  blacken, 
and  scorch  the  meat  or  fish,  often  giving  it  a  bitter  taste. 
If  any  article  is  to  be  fried,  fat  enough  to  float  it  should 
be  used,  and  that  heated  as  hot  as  possible  without 
scorching,  and  then  plunge  the  meat,  fish,  chicken, 
dough,  potatoes,  apples,  etc.,  all  over  in  the  hot  fat  at 
once.  Fish  can  not  be  fried  fit  to  eat  in  any  other  way. 
Meat  and  chicken  can  always  be  better  cooked  in  some 
other  way  besides  frying.  Fried  potatoes  and  fried  ap- 
ples, if  properly  done,  are  very  good  food.  Fried  cakes, 
or  dough-nuts,  are  a  great  Yankee  dish,  but  are  often 
badly  cooked.  They  are  fried  in  too  little  lard,  and 
soaked  with  burned  grease,  forming  a  most  unhealthy 
compound." 

BREAD-MAKING. 

On  page  95  I  find  directions  for  making  light  bread, 
from  which  somebody  may  learn  something  useful. 

"  This  is  what  we  call  a  sponge.  I  set  it  this  morning, 
and  you  see  it  is  now  ready  to  knead  into  loaves.  This 
is  by  far  the  most  important  part  of  bread-making.'^ 


MAKING  LIGHT  BREAD.  48 


"  Please  tell  me  about  setting  tlie  sponge,  as  you 
call  it." 

"  Oh,  yes  !  "Well,  I  use  about  ten  quarts  of  flour, 
which  I  put  into  this  large  wooden  tray,  and  make  a  hole 
in  the  center  and  pour  in  about  half  a  pint  of  brewer's 
yeast,  mixed  with  a  pint  of  water,  milk-warm.  As  I 
pour  it  in  gradually,  I  stir  some  of  the  flour  in  with  it  till 
it  forms  a  batter.  Then  I  take  a  handful  of  drj'  flour  and 
sprinkle  over  the  top.  Then  I  spread  over  this  a  thick 
tow  cloth,  which  I  call  my  sponge-cloth,  and  never  use  it 
for  any  thing  else  but  covering  the  bread-tray.  Now  I 
set  my  sponge  by  the  fire,  or  in  the  sun,  and  go  about 
my  work  till  it  is  ready  to  knead." 

"  How  do  you  know  when  it  is  ready  ?" 

"  I  frequently  look  at  it,  and  when  it  seems  to  be  work- 
ing, that  is,  sponging  up,  so  as  to  crack  the  covering  of 
flour,  it  is  then  ready  to  form  into  dough." 

"That  is  what  you  are  going  to  do  now." 

"Yes;  and  therein  lies  the  secret  of  good  bread.  'Not 
one  in  ten  ever  kneads  the  dough  enough.  It  is  hard 
work,  and  requires  strong  hands,  and  can  only  be  done 
b}''  hand.  I  begin  thus ;  by  pouring  in  warm  water  with 
one  hand  and  mixing  it  with  the  other.  It  will  take  about 
two  quarts,  so  that  altogether  I  shall  use  of  yeast  and 
water  about  half  as  many  pounds  as  I  have  flour.  Clear 
soft  water  is  the  best.  I  use  cistern  water,  filtered. 
Milk-warm  or  blood-warm  is  about  right.  I  add  a  table- 
spoonful  of  fine  salt.  This  I  scatter  over  the  sponge  be- 
fore I  begin  to  knead.  Mixing  flour  and  water  together 
will  make  dough  ;  but  if  you  want  good  bread  you  must 
take  both  hands  in  tliis  way,  and  work  the  mass  into  a 
stiff,  tough  dough. 

"There,  now,  you  see  how  it  adheres  together,  so  that 
I  could  draw  it  out  in  strands  and  braid  a  rope.  Now  I 
form  it  into  a  compact  ball,  and  cover  it  up,  and  set  it 
here  in  this  warm  spot  of  sunshine  that  is  pouring  through 
the  window  upon  the  kitchen  table.     I  shall  let  it  stand 


44  USE  OF  STALE  BREAD. 

there  about  an  hour,  and  then  take  a  knife  and  cut  it 
evenly  into  four  parts,  each  of  which  I  shall  take  sepa- 
rately upon  my  pie- board,  and  form  it  into  a  loaf  to  suit 
one  of  these  pans.  By  timing  my  work  in  this  way,  I  cook 
my  dinner,  and  bake  my  bread  by  one  heat  in  the  stove." 

"  What  is  that  for  ?"  said  Salinda,  as  she  saw  her  cut 
off  a  lump  of  dough  as  large  as  her  fist  and  lay  it  aside. 

"That  is  to  leaven  another  baking.  Do  you  see  those 
pieces  of  stale  bread  which  I  am  soaking  in  milk.  I  never 
■waste  a  morsel  of  bread.  Either  in  pudding,  gravy,  or  in 
rusk,  I  use  up  all.  These  pieces  I  soak  till  so  soft  that  I 
can  add  a  little  flour  and  knead  the  whole  together.  I 
also  add  a  little  shortening.  This  lump  of  dough  I  shall 
knead  into  the  mass,  and  that  will  make  the  whole  light. 
Then  I  mould  it  out  like  biscuit,  and  bake  them  after  the 
bread  is  done,  and  have  them  warm  for  tea.  Oh,  I  for- 
got the  sweetening.     I  always  sweeten  rusk." 

"  How  often  do  you  bake  bread  ?" 

"  Twice  a  w-eek  ;  but  if  I  had  a  large  brick  oven  I  would 
only  bake  once  a  week;  because  stale  bread,  or,  more 
properly  speaking,  ripe  bread,  is,  for  the  most,  healthy 
and  economical,  and  as  I  never  waste  any  old  bread,  it  is 
no  matter  how  much  I  have  on  hand." 

"  Do  you  ever  mix  potatoes  with  your  flour  ?" 

"  I  used  to  when  potatoes  were  cheap.  At  a  dollar  or 
more  a  bushel,  it  is  not  good  economy.  I  often  add  a 
little  corn  meal,  but  I  always  cook  it  partly  first,  in  a  thin 
mush.  If  added  raw  to  the  flour,  it  will  not  cook  enough 
in  the  baking  process.  For  a  change,  I  make  bread  with 
an  addition  of  a  little  sugar,  or  butter,  or  sweet  lard.  I 
forgot  to  say  1  alwa3's  add  butter  to  ray  rusk:  Some- 
times I  divide  my  dough,  and  sweeten  one  loaf  for  the 
children.  They  are  fond  of  it,  and  it  is  much  more 
healthy  than  rich  cake.  When  the  writer  of  that  text 
which  says  'bread  is  the  staft'  of  life,'  wrote  it,  he  cer- 
tainly referred  to  good  bread ;  not  such  miserable  bread 
as  we  find  in  most  houses.     If  you  have  good  bread,  you 


THE  PLAIN  DINNER.  45 


never  will  be  at  any  loss  to  set  a  very  good  meal,  upon 
emergency,  without  meat.  You  may  have  fresh  bread 
and  butter,  dry  toast  and  butter,  soft  toast  with  water  or 
milk,  bread  and  milk,  or,  and  what  can  be  nicer,  some 
bread  and  butter  and  honey." 

THE    PLAIN    DINNER. 

(Page  101.)  Here  we  have  a  plain,  wholesome  dinner 
in  a  mechanic's  family. 

"  Ah,  there  come  the  children,  punctual  as  the  clock. 
Now,  Susan,  we  will  have  our  little  plain  dinner.  What 
have  you  got?  Oh,  a  nice  piece  of  fresh  beef,  not  ex- 
actly like  the  French  bouilli,  but  after  a  way  of  our  own. 
It  is  a  piece  of  the  rump,  from  seven  to  ten  pounds, 
which  was  boiled  in  soup  yesterday,  of  which  we  made 
our  dinner  without  cutting  the  meat.  It  was  slightly 
flavored  with  onion,  parsley,  and  thyme.  Susan  always 
adds  a  dry  pepper  pod,  one  of  our  own  raising,  and  just 
salt  enough  to  flavor  it,  and  while  it  is  warm  she  sticks  in 
these  cloves.     You  will  find  it  tender  and  good. 

"  We  are  all  fond  of  it  cold,  but  if  it  should  be  pre- 
ferred hot,  lay  it  in  a  dish  and  clap  it  in  the  oven  a  few 
minutes.  In  the  season  of  them,  we  always  add  toma- 
toes. Now  we  substitute  tomato  catsup.  This  aspara- 
gus you  will  find  fresh  and  tender.  It  is  a  healthy  veg- 
etable at  this  season.  How  will  you  eat  your  lettuce — 
with  sugar,  as  Frank  is  fixing  his  ?" 

"  I  never  tasted  it  that  way.  When  I  have  been  at 
school,  the  old  housekeeper  was  always  scolding  about 
our  using  so  much  sugar,  and  I  don't  know  what  she 
would  have  said  if  any  one  had  used  it  upon  lettuce." 

"She  knew  nothing  of  economy.  I  should  have  al- 
lowed you  to  sweeten  your  water,  bread,  milk,  vegeta- 
bles, and  meat  if  you  liked  it;  so  you  did  not  eat  raw 
suo-ar,  you  might  have  all  you  wished,  that  is,  in  place 
of  the  same  cost  of  other  food." 


46  SALT  AND  OTHER  CONDIMENTS. 

Mr.  Saverifs  opinion  of  tobacco  {page  125). 

"You  are  severe  on  gross  eaters  and  hard  drinkers, 
sir  ;  pray,  what  is  your  opinion  of  the  use  of  tobacco  ?" 

"  That,  waving  all  argument  about  its  poisonous  eifects 
and  unhealthiness,  the  use  of  it  is  so  positively  filthy, 
whether  chewed,  snuffed,  or  smoked,  that  no  well-bred 
gentleman  or  lady  can  use  it,  or  sanction  its  use,  or,  what 
is  still  more,  encourage  friends  to  get  accustomed  to  a 
practice  that  enslaves  them  through  life." 

USE    OF    SALT. 

(Page  131.)  "  Health  depends  on  quality  as  well  as 
quantity  of  food.  Some  things  are  naturally  pernicious, 
and  some  are  made  so  by  cooking  and  combination  with 
others. 

"Condiments,  such  as  pepper,  spice,  mustard,  vinegar, 
salt,  etc.,  are  never  needed  in  a  healthy  stomach.  In 
case  of  stimulants  being  needed,  such  things  may  be 
used." 

"  Don't  you  think  that  salt  is  necessary  ?" 

"No  more,"  said  Mr.  Savery,  "than  any  of  the  other 
stimulants.  If  we  eat  less  salt  we  should  drink  less,  and 
the  world  would  be  saved  from  the  disgrace  of  drunken- 
ness. We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  use  of  salt,  that  we 
never  stop  to  inquire  whether  it  is  really  useful,  or  neces- 
sary, or  beneficial,  or  otherwise. 

"There  are  more  gluttons  than  drunkards  in  America; 
that  is,  persons  who  injure  themselves  by  eating. 

"  A  perfectly  liealthy  stomach  can  digest  almost  any 
healthful  food  ;  but  when  the  digestive  powers  are  weak, 
what  is  food  for  one  would  be  poison  to  another. 

"  Rice,  potatoes  when  dry  and  well  cooked,  flour, 
Indian  corn,  tender  meats,  or  meats  minced  fine,  are 
easiest  of  digestion.  Tough  beef,  fat  bacon,  unripe  fruit, 
wilted  vegetables,  rancid  butter,  short  pie-crust,  hot 
short-cakes,  and   many  articles  of  mixed   food,  will  in 


A  LESSON  IN   THE  KITCHEN.  47 

time  destroy  the  powers  of  an  ostrich-like  stomach  in 
any  human  being  tliat  does  not  take  violent  exercise  in 
the  open  air.  After  every  meal  a  person  should  rest  a 
little  while  to  allow  the  gastric  juice  time  to  incorporate 
itself  with  the  contents  of  the  stomach. 

"The  food  of  our  meals  should  be  properly  appor- 
tioned to  the  wants  of  the  body.  At  breakfast  we  need 
drinks,  and  should  eat  fruit  and  liglit  vegetable  food, 
with  but  little  meat.  That  good  old-fashioned  dish  of 
hash — a  little  meat  and  potatoes,  with  a  flour  gravy — is 
an  excellent  breakfast  dish.  But  we  do  not  eat  fruit 
enough,  and  the  eating  of  hearty  meats,  often,  too,  cooked 
by  frying,  is  a  national  sin  of  this  country." 

A    LESSON    IN    THE    KITCHEN. 

(Page  154.)  Salinda  inquires  of  Susan — 

"  What  are  you  soaking  this  meat  for  ?" 

"That  is  the  edge  bone  of  the  round — the  most  econ- 
omical piece  of  meat  in  the  whole  beef.  I  shall  boil  that 
directly  till  it  is  nice  and  tender,  and  in  the  liquor  I  shall 
put  all  that  pan  of  roast  meat  bones  which  I  have  been 
saving  all  the  week,  and  add  my  vegetables,  and  make 
such  a  nice  pot  of  soup — and,  as  you  see,  all  for  nothing. 
That  soup  is  for  to-morrow.  You  must  be  careful  never 
to  let  soup  cool  in  the  iron  pot  in  which  it  is  cooked.  I 
take  it  out  and  pour  it  through  the  cullender  into  the 
soup  tureen.  It  sometimes,  particularly  if  I  use  a  good 
many  carrots,  gelatinizes  so  as  to  be  like  a  jelly.  This  I 
heat  up  to-morrow  in  a  clean  tin  kettle. 

"  The  meat  I  shall  take  out,  and  while  it  is  wet  I 
sprinkle  it  all  over  with  pulverized  cracker  or  rusk  bread, 
with  whatever  seasoning  is  agreeable  to  the  family. 
Some  use  garlic  or  onions,  and  various  herbs.  We  pre- 
fer every  thing  plain.  I  use  a  little  salt,  pepper,  thyme, 
and  afterward  garnish  with  parsley.  This  meat  I  put  in 
a  dish  in  a  hot  oven  just  long  enough  to  brown  the  out- 


48  PREPARING  FOR  SUNDAY. 

side.  You  will  say  to-morrow  that  it  is  very  nice,  and 
quite  as  good  as  though  it  was  hot.  This  also  serves  for 
Monday,  dinner  and  tea,  and  very  like  for  breakfast 
Tuesday.  My  potatoes  I  prepare  to-day  by  boiling  and 
mashing,  and  putting  in  this  tin  pan.  If  I  have  a  fire  in 
the  range  I  clap  the  pan  in  the  oven,  first  glazing  the 
top  with  the  white  of  an  egg.  It  browns  and  heats 
through  directly.  If  I  use  nothing  but  this  little  char- 
coal furnace,  I  put  the  pan  in  this  little  bake-oven,  first 
heating  the  lid,  and  set  the  whole  over  the  coals.  This 
and  the  soup  is  all  that  I  have  to  cook.  When  potatoes 
are  better  fresh  boiled,  I  can  boil  a  mess  and  heat  my 
Boup  with  a  quart  of  coal. 

"To-morrow  we  shall  have  for  dinner  cold  meat  and 
cold  rice-pudding,  and  hot  soup  and  potatoes,  with  let- 
tuce and  radishes.  Perhaps  Mr.  Savery  will  bring  a  lob- 
ster this  evening." 

"  Do  you  cook  for  breakfast?" 

"  Yery  little.  I  make  a  cup  of  tea  or  cocoa.  If  I  have 
cold  potatoes,  I  fry  them.  Then,  with  a  little  cold  boiled 
ham,  or  corn  beef,  or  tongue,  or  leg  of  mutton,  with 
fruits  in  their  season,  we  make  a  nice  Sunday  breakfast, 
without  roasting  the  cook's  face  for  it.  You  see  I  shall  have 
no  cooking  to-morrow  morning,  and  very  little  all  day." 

"  How  admirabl}'^  you  have  every  thing  arranged  so  as 
not  to  interfere  with  the  Sabbath,  and  yet  you  will  have 
a  better  and  far  more  wholesome  breakfast  and  dinner 
than  many  that  are  obtained  by  toil  and  privations  of  all 
the  privileges  and  enjoyments  of  that  day. 

"  Of  such  lessons,  combined  with  a  pleasant  story,  that  book  is  fall ;  bnt  I 
can  only  extract  a  few  of  those  most  pertinent  to  this  work.  And  this  I 
commend  to  every  man,  woman,  or  child  who  can  realize  the  advantage  of 
the  careful  study  and  practice  in  all  things  of  a  judicious,  careful,  health- 
preserving,  wealth-begetting,  honest  economy." 


"  Books  sent  by  Mail  *o  any  Pobt  Ofwob  ik  the  Unite*  States." 

A   LIST    OF    WOEKS 

By  Fowi-er     and  Wells,  308  Broadway,  New  York.. 


In  order  to  accomraodate  "  The  People"  residing  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States,  tLo  under- 
signed Publishers  will  forward  by  return  of  the  Fibbt  Maii,,  any  boolc  named  in  the  fallowing 
List.  The  pos'age  will  be  pre-paid  by  them,  at  the  Now  York  Office.  By  this  arrangement  of 
pre-paying  postage  in  advnnee,  fifty  per  cent  is  saved  to  the  purchaser.  The  price  of  each  work, 
including  postage,  is  given,  so  that  the  exact  amount  may  be  remitted.  All  letters  containhig 
■orders  should  be  post-pai>!iand  directed  as  follows:  Fowlbks  and  Wells, 

803  Broadway,  New  York. 


[0rlis  on  |6rnt0l0giT. 


Combe's  Lectures  on  Phren- 

otogy.    A  coraiitete  course.     Uound  in  maalln,  $1  25, 

Chart,  for  Recording  various 

Deyelopnienta.     Dosl^ued  for  PlireuoToglete.     6  centB. 

Constitution  of  Man.     By  G. 


Constitution  of  Man.    School 

Edition.     AiraBgcd  with  Questions.     SO  centft. 

Defence  of  Phrenology,  with 

Arguments    «nd   Testimony.       By.    Dr.    Boardmau. 
Paper,  62  cents.     Muslin,  87  cents. 

Domestic  Life,  Thoughts  on. 

Its  Concm'd  and  Discoid.    By  N.  Slzer.     15  cents. 

Education  Complete.  Em- 
bracing Physiology,  Animal  and  Mental,  Self-Culture, 
and  Memory.    Jn  1  vol.    By  O.  S.  Fowler.    $2  50. 

Education,  Founded    on  the 

Nature  of  Man.  Dr.  SpurEheim.  62  cts.  Muslin,  87  cts. 

Familiar  Lessons  on  Phrenol- 
ogy and  riiyslology.    Muslin,  in  one  vol.    |1  25. 

Love  and  Parentage  :  applied 

to  the  Improvement  of  Olfspilng.    30  cents. 
Tb*  same,  In  muslin,  Including  Amativkness.    75  cts. 

Marriage :    its   History   and 

Philosophy,    with   Directions  for  Happy  Marriages. 
Bound  In  paper,  60  cents.     Muslin,  75  cents. 

Memory  and  Intellectual  Im- 
provement: applied  to  Self-Education.  By  O.  S. 
Fowler.     Paper,  62  cents.     Muslin,  S7  cents. 

Mental  Science,  Lectures  on, 

Acoordl'ig  to  the  Philosophy  of  Phrenology.    By  K«v. 
a,  8.  Weaver.     Paper,  62  cenU.     Muslin,  87  cents. 

Matrimony:    or.  Phrenology 

and  Physiology  .-.pplUd  to  the  Selection  of  .Congenial 

IUompanlons  for  Lite.     SO  cenU. 
Moral   and  Intellectual   Sci- 
j     »nc«.  By  ComlM,  Orego«y,  and  others,  linslln,  t2  SO. 


Phrenology  Proved,  Illustra- 
ted, and  ApplieiL  Thirty-seventh  edition.  A  stand- 
ard work  ou  the  Science.    Muslin,  %l  25. 

Phrenological  Journal,  Amer- 
ican Monthly.    Quarto,  Illustrated.    A  year,  $1. 

Popular    Phrenology,     with 

Fhreuologlcal  DeTelopiuents.     80  ceuts. 

Phrenology    and   the    Scrip- 

tures.     By  Rev.  Jobu  Pitrpout.     12  ceuts. 

Phrenological     Guide :      de- 

Bigued  for  the  Uae  of  Students.     15  cents. 

Phrenological  Almanac :  il- 
lustrated with  numerous  Engravings.    6  cents. 

Phrenological  Bust :  designed 

especially  for  Learners,  showing  the  exact  location 
of  all  the  Oigaua  of  the  Brain,  fully  developed. 
Price,  Including  box  for  packing,  $1  25.  [Jfot  maU> 
able.] 

Phrenological  Specimens  for 

Private  Cabinets.  Forty  Casts,  [Not  roallabls.] 
Price,  $25. 

Religion,  Natural  and  Reveal- 

ed  ;  or^  tbe  Katurul  Theo1og:y  and  Sloral  Bearings  of 
Phrenology.    Paper,  62  cents.     Muslin,  87  centa, 

Self-Culture  and  Perfection  of 

Character.    Paper,  G2  cents.     MnsUn,  S7  cents. 

Self-Instructor  in  Phrenology 

and  Pliysloiogy,  Iltuatrated  with  One  Hundred  KB- 
gravings.     Paper,  80  ceuts.    Muslin,  60  cents. 

Symbolical  Head  and  Phreno- 

logical  Chart,  in  Map  Form,  showing  the  Natural 
Language  of  the  Fltrenological  Organs.    25  ceuts. 

Temperance  and  Tight-Lac- 
ing.   On  the  Laws  of  Life.    By  O.  8.  FT    15  cents. 

Works  of  Gall,  Combe,  Spurz- 

helm,  and  others,  together  ■with  all  works  on  Phre- 
nology, for  sale,  wholesale  and  retail.  Aubntb  and 
Booksellers  supplied  by  Fowlkrb  and  WsLts,  New 
York. 


FoWLKK      AJN'D    WeI^1.s's   PUBLICATIOiXS. 


i||!iir0pt^iT;  ^"^f  MuUx-€vixt. 


•  Ir  TBI  Pkoplk  OHn  lie  th(irouglily  indoctrinated  In  the  general  principles  of  Htdbopatht,  and  make  them 
atives  acqu  tinted  with  tlie  laws  of  Line  a-nd  health,  they  will  well-nigh  emancipate  themselves  from  all  need 
of  docto-.-a  of  any  tort." — Da.  Tralu 


Accidents  and  Emergencies. 

By  Alfi'Cfi  Smee.    Kotes  by 'I'rall.  lUutttrut^d.  K*  cents. 

Bnlvver,  Forbes,  and  Hough- 
ton on  the  Wftter  Treatment.    One  large  vol.    $1  23. 

Cook-Bo  ok,    Hydropathic. 

^yith  new  Recipes.  By  K.  T.  llall,  Jl.D.  Paper,  62 
cents.     Muslin,  87  cents.    Gilt,  $1. 

Chronic  Disease.    An  Exposi- 

tion  of  the  Canses,  Progress,  and  Terniinalions  of 
various  Chronic  Diseases.    By  Dr.  J.  M.  Gaily.    4109. 

Children ;  their  Hydropathic 

Management  in  Health  and  Disease.    Dr.  Shew.   $1  25. 

Consumption ;  its  Causes,  Pre- 
vention and  Cure.  Paj^er,  62  cents.   Mublin,  87  ceuta. 

Curiosities  of  Common  Water. 

A  Jledical  Work.    From  London  edition.    SO  cents. 

Cholera:  its  Causes,  Preven- 

tlon  and  Cm^e  ;  and  all  other  Bowel  Complainte.  30  cts. 

Confessions  and  Observations 

of  a  Water  Patient.  By  Sir  E.  Lytton  Bulwer.  15  cts. 

Domestic  Practice  of  Hydrop- 
athy, with  ir,  engraved  Illustrations  of  important  sub- 
jects, from  Drawings.    By  E.  Johnson,  RD.    $1  60. 

Errors  of  Physicians  and  Oth- 
ers In  the  Application  of  the  Water.<;me.    SO  cents. 

Experience  in  Water-Cure,  in 

Acute  and  other  Diseases.    By  Mis.  Nichols.    30  eta. 

Family  Physician,  Hydropa- 

tlilo.  By  Dr.  J.  Sliew.  A  new  and  Invalualile  work 
for  home  piactice.  Profusely  Illustrated.  SInslin,  ti  50. 

Hydropathic  Encyclopedia.  A 

Complete  J-yistcm  of  Hydropatliy  and  Hysieno.  Illus- 
trated. By  K.  T.  Trail,  M.D.  'I'wo  viiiumes,  with 
nearly  One  Tlionsand  Pages.    Illustrated,    ti  00. 

Hydropathy  for  the  People. 

Notes,  by  Dr.  Trail.    Paper,  62  cts.    Muslin ,  87  cts. 

Hydropathy ;  or, Water-Cure. 

Pdnciples  and  Modes  of  Treatment.  Dr.  Shew,  tl  23. 

Hydropathic   Quarterly   Re- 

view.  A  professional  Maga/Jue,  devoted  to  Medical 
^efoims,  etc.    A  year,  in  advance,  42. 

Hygiene    and     Hydropathy, 

Lectures  on.    By  E.  S.  Houshton,  M.D.    30  cents. 


Home  Treatment  for  Sexual 

Abuses,  with  Hydropathic  Slanagement.     A  Practical 
Treatise  for  both  Sexes.     By  Dr.  Trail,     30  ceutrt. 

Introduction,  to    the   Water- 
cure.    With  Firot  Principles.    15  cents. 

Midwifery  ajid  the  Diseases  of 

Women.     A  practical  work.    By  Dr.  Sliew.    $1  25. 

Milk  Trade  in  New  York  and 

Vicinity.   By  Mullaly.    Introduction  by  Trail.    30  cts. 

Parent's  Guide  and  Childbirth 

Made  Easy.    By  Mi-s.  H.  Pendleton.    60  cents. 

Philosophy  of  Water-Cure.  By 

John  Balblrnie,  M.D.    A  work  for  beginners.    30  cts. 

Pregnancy   and    Childbirth  ; 

Water-Cure  for  Women,  with  cases.    30  cents. 

Principles    of    Hydropathy ; 

Invalid's  Guide  to  Health.   By  D.  X.  Harsha.    15  cinta. 

Practice  of  Water-Cure.     By 

Drs.Wilson  and  Gully.  A  handy,  popular  work.  30  cts. 

Results  of  Hydropathy  ;  treat- 


Science   of  Swimming:   giv- 
ing Practical  Instraction  to  Learners.    13  cents. 

Water-Cure    Library  ;      em- 

braciuK  the  Most  Important  Works  on  the  Subject.  Ill 
seven  large  12mo  volume".     A  Family  work,    t^■ 

Water-Cure  in  America,  con- 
taining Keports  of  Three  Hundred  Cases.    $1  25. 

Water  and  Vegetable  Diet  in' 

Scrofula.  Ctn.cer,  Astliraa,  etc.    By  Dr.  I-amb.     Not.  § 
by  Dr.  Shew.    62  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Water-Cure  in  Every  Kno^\  n 

Disease.    By  J.  H.  Kausse.    62  cts.     Muslin,  S7  cts. 

Water-Cure  Manual;  a  Pop 

u!ar  Work  on  Hydropathy.    62  "-ts.    Muslin,  fe"  cts. 

Water-Cure    Almanac,    Con- 

talning  much  Important  matter  for  all  classts.    €  cts. 

Water-Cure  Journal  and  Her- 

ald  of  Keforms.    Devoted  to  Hycropatliy  and  Medii-al 
Beform.    Published  monthly,  at  tl  a  year. 


PowLEBS  AND  Wklls  liave  all  works  on  Hydropatht,  Phybioloot,  and  the  Natural  bclences  generally. 
Booksellers  supplied  on  the  most  liberal  tarms.  Agents  wanted  in  every  State,  connty,  and  town.  These  work* 
are  unlver».ally  popular,  and  thousands  might  be  sold  wliere  they  have  never  yet  been  introduced. 

I/ettei-8  and  Orders  should  be  post-paid,  and  directed  to  th»  Publishers  as  follows  :— 

FowLKH      AND   Wells,  SOS  Broadway,  New  York. 


Fowler    and  Wells's  Publications. 


Tbk  Pdblisiibks  woiUd  respectftillj-  refer  Strangers,  Agents,  and  Country  Dealers  to  the  principal  Publisher* 
In  New  York,  Phil,  de^ihia,  Boiton,  or  other  cities,  for  evl,ienc«  of  their  ability  to  fulfill  all  contract*.  T\»j  ha?* 
been  niaoy  jrcars  before  the  public,  engaged  in  the  piibl'.shing  bu8iiiet«  in  the  city  of  New  York. 


|lTirn0l0gg,  llnmcrism,  u)i  |si|tI]0l0g|T» 


ON   PHYSIOLOGY. 

Alcohol,  and  the  Constitution 

of  5Ian.    UlnHtrated   by  a   Diii^^raTn.      By    Profeaflor 
Youmaus.    Paper,  SO  rents.    JlusHn,  50  cents. 

Amativeness ;  or,  Evils    and 

Eeme.lieg  of  Excessive  and  Perverted  Sexuality,  with 
Advice  to  the  MaiTied  and  Single.    15  cents. 

Combe  on  Infancy;    or,    the 

Pliysii'Iogical  and  Moral  Management  of  Children.  Il- 
lustrated.   Paper,  Hi  cents.    Muslin,  S7  cents. 

Combe's  Physiology,  applied 

to  the  Improvement  of  Slental  and  Physical  Educatiou. 
Notes  by  Fowler.    Paper,  62  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Chronic   Diseases,  especially 

Nervous  Diseases  of  Women.  Impoitant  work.  30  cts. 

Digestion,  Physiology  of.  The 

PriiiciplcB  of  Dietetics.     By  Andrew  Combe.    SO  ct«. 

Family  Dentist ;    a  Popular 

Treatise  on  tlie  Teeth.  By  D.  C.  Warner,  M.D.  87  cts. 

Food  and  Diet ;  containing  an 

Analysis  of  every  kind  of  Food  and  Drink.  By  Pereira. 
Papsr,  87  cents.    Mualln,  tl  25. 

Fruits    and    Farinacea,    the 

Proper  Food  of  Man.    With  Notes  and  engraved  II- 
lusti-ations.    «y  It.  T.  Trail,  M.D.    Muslin,  $1  23. 

Generation,    Philosophy   of; 

Its  Abuses,  Causes,  Prevention,  and  Cure.    30  cents. 

Hereditary  Descent ;  its  Laws 

and  Facts  applied  to  Human  Improvement.    O.  S.  P. 
New  ediiion.    Paper,  62  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Maternity ;    or,  the   Bearing 

and  Nm-slng  of  Children,  including  Female  Education. 
O.  S.  Fowlor.    Pa|»r,  62  cents.     Muslin,  81  cents. 

IS'atural  Laws  of  Man.     By 

D.-.  Spurzheim.    A  good  work.    30  cents. 

Natural  History  of  Man.    By 

Dr.  Newman.  Illustrated.  Paper,62  cts.  Muslin,  87  cts. 

Physiology,  Animal  andMen- 

t.-»l  J  appliel  tu  Health  of  Bo^ly  and  Power  of  Mind. 
By  0.  b.  P.    Paper,  63  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Reproductive  Organs ;    their 

Dttieases,  Causes,  and  Cure  Hydropathlcally.    15  cents. 

Sexual  Diseases ;  their  Causes, 

Prevention  and  Cure,  on  Physlologal  Principles.  $1  25. 

Sober   and   Temperate  Life ; 

with  Notes  and  niustratious  by  Louis  Coraaro.  30  cts. 


Tobacco ;    its  Effect    on   the 

Body  and  Mind.    By  Dr.  Shew.    30  ceiiln. 

Teeth  ;  their  Structure,  Dis- 

easOj  and  Mttnagement,with  many  Kngravinss.  15  cts. 

Tea  and  Coffee  ;  their  Physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  Moral  Effects.    By  Alcolt.  15  cts, 

Tobacco ;  Three  Prize  Essays. 

By  Drs.  Trail  and  Shew,  and  Rev.  D.  Baldwin.  16  ct«. 

Tobacco,  Use  of  j  its  Physical, 

Intellectual,  and  Moral  Effects.    By  Alcott.    15  cents. 

Uterine  Diseases  and  Dis- 
placements. A  Practical  Treatise  on  the  various 
Diseases,  Malpositions,  and  Structural  Derangements 
of  the  Uterus  and  Its  Appendages.  Illustrated  with 
coioi-ed  Kugravings.    By  R.  T.  Trail,  M.D.    $5  00. 

Vegetable  Diet,  as  Sanctioned 

by  Medical  Men,  and  Experience  in  all  Ag-es.    By  Di-. 
Alcott.     Paper,  62  cents.     Muslin,  87  cents. 


MESMERISM  AND  PSYCHOLOGY. 

Biology  ;  or,  the  Principles  of 

the  Human  Mind.  By  Alfred  Smee.  Illustrated.  30  cts. 

Electrical  Psychology,  Phi- 
losophy of,  in  Twelve  Lectures.  By  Dr.  J.  B.  Dods. 
Paper,  62  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Elements  of  Animal  Magnet- 
ism ;  or.  Process  and  Practical  Application.    16  cts. 

Fascination ;   or,  the  Philos- 

ophy  of  Charming-  (Magnetism).  Illustrating  the 
Piinciples  of  Life.    Paper,  50  cents.    Muslin,  &7  cents. 

Library    of  Mesmerism  and 

Psychology.  With  suitable  Illustrations.  In  two 
large  volumes  of  about  900  pages.    $3  00. 

Mental  Alchemy .    A  Treatise 

on  the  Mind  and  Nervous  Syistem.  By  Williams.  62  cts. 

Macrocosm  and  Microcosm ; 

or,  the  Universe  Without  and  the  Universts  Within. 
By  Fishbough.  Scientific  Woik.  Paper,  63  cents. 
Muslin,  87  cents. 

Philosophy  of  Mesmerism  and 

Clairvoyance,  Six  Lectures,  with  Instruction.    80  cts 

Psychology ;  or,  the  Science 

of  the  Soul.    By  Haddock.    Illustrated.    30  cents. 

Spiritual  Intercourse,  Philos- 

ophy  of ;  an  Explanation  of  Modern  Mystedns.  62cts. 

Supernal  Theology,  and  Life 

In  the  Spheres.    By  Owen  G.  War  en.    SO  cents. 


EiTiiRS  of  these  works  may  be  ordered  and  received  by  return  of  th;  First  Mail,  postage  prepaid  by  Ih< 
Publishers.    Pleas?  address  all  letters,  post-paid,  to  FowLBB       .ANnWELLS, 

N.B.— Name  Tot!B  Post  OrFiCK,  CotJNTT,  and  Statu.  8(i3  Broadway,  New  York. 


~jVt€ 


,1 D  rv  n  i\,.i     , 

)WLER       AND     UKl^LS 


Y    >A6W/oV; 


S    PuBLlCATIOXS. 


f  fejffnograplrn  anil  glisrellaiuous. 


TThen  Pintle  copies  of  these  works  are  wanted,  the  amount,  in  postage  stamps. small  ctianse,  or  l4.nk-iiot«6, 
VOAj  be  Inclosed  in  a  letwr  and  sent  to  the  PublUhers,  who  will  forward  the  books  by  retnrn  of  the  FikKrr  Ma  il. 


ON   PH0N0GBAFH7. 

Constitution    of   the   United 

States,  in  Phonography,  corresponding  style.  15  cts. 

Declaration  of  Independence, 

In  Phonography,  a  sheet ;  fur  framing.     15  cents. 

Phonographic  Teacher;  being 

«n  Inductive  Expogltlon  of  Phonopniphy,  intemled 
for  a  School  Roftk,  ami  to  afford  complete  Instruction 
to  those  who  have  not  tbe  assistance  of  an  Oral 
Teacher.    By  E.  Wetaeter.     In  boards.    4S  cents. 

Phonographic  Envelopes, 

Lar^e  and  Small,  containing  Brief  Explanations  of 
Pbounsraphy  and  Its  Utility.     Per  thousand,  t3  25. 

Phonographic  Alphabet,upon 

Enameled  Card.     Per  hundred,  |3. 

Phonographic  Word  Sigus,on 

Card.     Per  uuodied  copies,  ti. 

Reporter's  Manual ;  a  Com- 
plete Exposition  of  tbe  Keporting  Style  of  Phono{ra- 
phy.     By  Andrew  J.  Graham.     '5  cents. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 

Botany  for  all  Classes ;  con- 

talnln;  a  Flriml  Dictionary,  with  namerous  Dlustra- 
tloas.     Paper,  63  cents.     Muslin,  t>7  cents. 

Chemistry,  applied  to  Physi- 

oiony,  Agriculture,  and  Commerce.  By  Liebig,  25  cts. 

Delia's  Doctors ;  or,  a  Glance 

behind  tbe  Scenes.     By  Miss  Hannah  Gardner  Crea- 
mer.    Paiwr,  62  cents.     Muslin,  87  cents. 

Essay  on  Wages,  showing  the 

Kecessity  of  a  Worklngman's  Tarift     15  cents. 

Familiar  Lessons  on  Astrono- 
my. Desif^ned  for  Cblldien  and  Youth  in  S"-hoolsand 
Families.  Mrs.  Fawle.-.  Paper,  C2  cts.  Muslin,  87  cts. 

Future  of  Nations ;  a  Lecture. 

By  Louis  EossutlL    Rerlsed  by  Uie  author.    13  cents. 


Hints  toward  Reforms,  in  Lec- 
tures, Addresses,  and  other  Writlngn.  By  H.  Greeley. 
Second  Edition,  eniarued,  wi:h  Crystal  Palace.  $1  si. 

Hopes  and  Helps    for  the 

Tonus  of  lioth  Sexes.    By  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver.    An  ex 
cellent  work.     Puper,  62  cents.     MusUu,  87  cents. 

Human  Rights,  and  their  Po- 
litical Guaranties.  By  J  udge  Hurlbut.  An  important 

work.     Paper,  62  cents.    Muslin,  87  cents. 

Home   for  All ;   the   Gravel 

Wall,  a  Kew.  Cheap,  and  Superior  Mo<Ie  of  Building, 
with  Engravings,  Plans,  Views,  etc.     &7  cents. 

Immortality  Triumphant.  The 

Existence  of  a  God,  with  the  Evidence.     Ey  Bev.  J. 
B.  Dods.    Paper,  62  cents.     Muiilin,  87  centit. 

Innovation  Entitled  to  a  Full 

and  Candid  Hearing.     By  John  Patterson.     15  cents. 

Literature  and  Art.     By   S. 

Margaret  Fuller.    Intrwiuctlou  by  U.  QreeJey.    $1  25. 

Labor  ;  its  History  and  Pros- 
pects.   Use  and  Abuse  of  Wealth.    ByOweu.    30  cts. 

Parental  Responsibility.    By 

Mis.  C  M.  Steel.    For  Yonn;  Mothera.    Illustrated  by 
Ojiposite  Modes  of  Home  Education.     SO  cents. 

Power  of  Kindness ;  inculcat- 

lug  the  Christian  Principles  of  Love  over  Physical 
Force.     Paper,  30  cents.     Muslin,  60  cents. 

Population,  Theory  of.     The 

Law  of  Animal  Fertility.  Introduction  by  Trail.  15  cts. 

Temperance  Reformation ;  its 

History  from   the  First  Temperance  Society  to  tht 
Adoption  of  the  Maine  Law.     By  Armstrous.     $1  35, 

Temperance  Tracts.  By  Trail, 

Greeley,  Barnnm,  Fowler,  Dow,   and   others.     Per 
hundred,  75  cents  ;  a  thousand,  by  express,  H- 

Woman ;  her  Education  and 

Influence.    AVith  an  Introduction  by  Mrs.  C.  M.  Kirk- 
land.    Paper,  60  cents.     Muslin,  87  cents. 

Woman,  in  all  Ages  and  iSTa- 

tions.     An  Authentic  History,  frum  the  Earliest  Ages. 
Paper,  62  cents.     Muslin,  87  cents. 


TUKSK  works  may  be  ordered  iu  large  or  small  quantities.  A  liberal  discount  will  be  made  to  Aoe.stb,  and  others, 
who  buy  to  sell  again.  ITiey  maybe  sent  by  Express  or  as  Freight,  by  Railroad,  Steamships,  Sailing  Vessels,  by 
Stage  or  Canal,  to  any  City,  Town,  or  Village  in  the  United  SUtes,  the  Cauadas.  Europe,  or  anj  place  on  the  Globe. 

Checks  or  diafts,  for  large  amounts,  on  New  York,  Philadelphia,  or  Boston,  always  preferred.  We  pay  cost  cf 
exchange.     All  letters  should  be  post-paid,  and  addressed  as  follows  : — 

FOWLEB      AND   WELLS, 

ptsm*  the  Post  OfHce,  Cjunty,  anrt  SUte.l  SOS  Bfviadwav,  KeW  York. 


m 

Xo.  3  08  / 

BROADWAY,    1^ 

XE^V  YORK. 


Fowler&Wells 


PROFESSIONAL 

EXAMINATIONS 

Pny  and  Evening^. 


NAMES  AND  NUMBERS  OF  THE  ORGANS. 


AyATivKKBSo.— Sexn<illove,fiinines<>.  attrxctlon.etc.  I 
CoNJi'iiAi.  LovB.— Ciiioti  for  llf-:,  the  pairinK  In«tinct. 

P-lKKNTAL  Ix>TE. — f>re  "f  'i!fsn  fti;:.  Kn.l  all  v.-.nii.'. 

PttlKVDSHIP.— SooUM: '■■   '       ■-.  I 

rvH*  BITATI  VK\KB«.  — : 
COKTI.VUITY. — Apnli. 

VlTtTIVKSK-i.  — C'i 


20.  CovsTBl"CTiTir\Kss. — ItiRpnulty,  n*iiiK<rf  skill,  [ment. 

21.  IHKALITY. —  Tn^ttf  Inve  '»f  brtiiitv,  poetrv,  ami  reliue- 

11.    SUBLIMITY.— I-fiV"    .r    11. <^    '.■■>■.t^^.    V„.it.    oyi.U.I"!,    IMll 

21.   fMITATIOV.— Ci>i     :  ■    Inilc 

2n.  Mirth.— Fun,  w 

2t.    iNDIVflU'Al.lTY.--  :'OW. 


.n,f<-!.r. 

SI. 

J.OCAf.lTY.— Mei 

""'.?:. 

31. 

EVtNTIUI.ITY.— ~ 

33. 

TlMK.— Tellliiy ., 

-4. 

Tu-sK.— ixivB  or  ■ 

S".. 

T.ANOUAUK. — Kry 

■- 

SB. 

CASUA1.1TY — flir 

l'MH"M. 

«:. 

Co.MPABIKOV. —  An.inM«.  1i.;.;t1!t1l-..1;«'-1i:! illi.lt  I'M 

i4Uip,iuk 

niiion.ilevnti(.n.()«ler«-nce. 

r. 

Hl-MA.f  Natpkk.— Per.-epil"n  oiclwnicterjiKHlveii 

ympathi 

,  kUi'liiess,  giKi.lntsn. 

D. 

Scwnr.—rifamiUnan,  blaudness,  peisu«»iv«nes 

1SKNETOI.UNCK. — »S; 

PiiRFSOi.ooiCAi,  Ksj^MiXATtoN.'*  AVD  ADVirK,  with  Clinrts  anA  'Written  Description*  r«f  Charac- 
ter, when  deiiirtvj,  by  Fowlkk  and  Wfu.s,  No.  3fi3  Broinlway,  New  Vork. 

We  publish  the  followinw  Poi'i-lau  aii'l  Scikstific  JoL-nsAi-?: 
THE    AMERICAN    PHREXOLOGICAE   JOUKNAE.- 

A  Uepositury  of  Sciencp,  Literature,  and  Gener«!  Iiilcllie"nee,  devoteii  to  Phreii'>Ioory.  E<iiioMir>n. 
Meehiinism.  Architecture,  and  to  all  those  Pro^resKive  Mt^aaures  which  ar«  cnlciilaled  to  lieforrn. 
Elevate,  nnd  Improve  Mankinfl.  Illustrated  willi  numerous  portraits  and  other  ensravings.  A 
'-autiful  Quarto,  suitable  for  binding.    Pu!.llshed  tnoiitlily  fit  On«  Dollar  a  Year  in  advance. 

THE  WATER-CURE  JOURNAE.-Devoted  to  Hydropathy,  its  Philos- 
;>hy  and  Practice  ;  to  Phvsiology  ami  Anatomy,  with  illustrative  encraviiisrs  ;  to  Dietetics,  Exerclae, 
othiup,  Occupations,  Amusements,  and  iho^e  Laws  which  jrovern  Life  and  Health.    |1  a  Year. 

LIFE  lELUSTRATED  :  A  .Tonmal  or  Entertainment,  Improvement,  and 
r.isreas.    To  illustrate  Lite  in  all  its  forms  and  "spects,  to  discuss  the  leading  Ideas  of  the  day.  to 

•ord  all  signs  of  Projrress.  to  advocate  the  Poliiicjil  and  Industrial  Riehts  of  all  classes,  to  point 
;•  all  lesjitimate  means  of  Economy  and  Profit,  and  to  encourage  a  spirit  of 

Hope,    Activity,    Self-Rellance,    and    Manlinec* 

■wrinz  the  People,  are  some  of  the  objects  aimed  at  in  this  journal:  and  possessins  superior  facili- 
■■<  for  doing  so,  we  shall  rest  satisfied  with  nothinsr  short  of  making  L'Kk  Ii.LrsTKATED  o»e  of  the 
TV  best  f:tmily  newspapers  in  the  world.     Published  weekly  at  Two  Dollars  a  rear. 
Tor.  Tiir.r.K  Doi.T.Ait8,  a  copy  of  each  of  these  three  journals  will  be  sent  a  year  to  one  address. 

Please  address  POAVX.ER  AND  "%\TEIiI.S,  308  Broadway,  New  York. 


